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Yes! Yes! Yes! Another story with more battles and less over-rated and over-written romance stories of you know who are they couples!

Is this taken from the last Chapter of Kaiser's Divine Grimiore and I feel the Mecha and Magic battles are going to be awesome.

But there is still something off, it could be that this chapter is lacking an expression of doom. I can feel the dread that the characters are experiencing with their helplessness but the experience and portrayal of an upcoming Armageddon is not completely told.

I'll just have to wait for the upcoming chapter.

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Are the other worlds affected as well. Both Administered and non-administered?

Thanks for the interest, been a while since I've written anything Nanoha.

I don't know what Kaiser's Divine Grimoire is, though.

As for your question

Spoiler:

Haven't really thought that far. It's written on-the-fly so I have very little notes. Though, I can say it is most likely only in the TSAB's "dimension" as the Absolution probably doesn't have access to any other dimension. More backstory will come.

---------

Speaking of which. I've been without net for a few days due to skiing vacation and gotten more stuff written.

Hayate stared, dumbfounded, as God Fist shattered. It broke apart, debris exploding outward, while plasma devoured its shield and, a few seconds afterward, its armor. The plasma remained there, chewing inwards towards the interior, soon breaking through its inner shell.

During the massacre, the channel from God Fist remained open, broadcasting to the entire fleet. Everyone could hear the death cries of its crew being burned alive inside their ship that had turned into an oversized microwave. Hayate imagined for a few seconds those that didn’t have their flesh turned to ash, instead suffocating or freezing to death out in space, all alone without salvation. She almost threw up, pushed the mental imagery away and shut the broadcast off.

“Commander,” Mariam said, shaken yet calm at the same time, “orders?”

It was a good question. What was she supposed to do now? With the flagship down and the Absolution fleet regrouping there wasn’t much choice. The other ships in her fleet had started drifting away from each other, clogging the comm channels with frantic chatter and panicked voices. She could hear them continuously, streaming into her consciousness from the mental link. A storm of information assaulted her as data kept flooding her screens.

Shut up…

Someone demanded an explanation for what had just happened. Another tried to take command, failing, as no one listened to him. The Absolution fleet aligned themselves towards them, their menacing weapons coming to bear.

Shut up.

Mariam asked something, but Hayate didn’t hear. Or she didn’t want to. Thoughts raced around in her head; options, alternatives, tactics, strategy. Everything she had learned during the years replayed itself in her head, but nothing of it applied. They’d never faced a force as strong as this before. They’d grown lazy, complacent. No. That wasn’t it. They couldn’t blame themselves like that.

She couldn’t blame them like that.

Shut up!

She saw it. It appeared to her as a lighthouse in the night, an idea so simple, a tactic so spartan it would work fine. As long as she could take control, they would make it out alive. It was down to her.

“Everyone, shut the hell up!”

Mariam stared at her with her mouth half-open. Some of her crew turned to look at her, but most didn’t care. They sat still, smiling for themselves. The comm channels went quiet.

“Cranagan’s Glory, Miademes, Oriasen, prepare for emergency warp. Mariam, give me the coordinates for a resupply station.” Mariam nodded and started working, fingers flying. “Prepare all your weapon bays for immediate launch. Those I didn’t mention just now, warp away as fast as you can.” Which meant five ships in her fleet would be sent into safety. “We are going to give them hell and then get the fuck out of here.”

A new comm channel opened, this one from the Commander of Cranagan’s Glory, Tamil. He didn’t look pleased. “Commander Yagami, what are you doing?”

“Saving the fleet.”

“I can see that, but sending those ships away is stupid. We can use their firepower to—“

“No, we can’t,” she said without looking at the screen. “Those are the older models, they don’t have the supply capacity that we do.”

“That’s true, but—“

“Commander Tamil, we don’t have time for this. Just trust me on this one because we don’t have any time left!”

He furrowed his brow then shook his head. “Fine. Have it your way, but don’t think this you’ll get away with this unscathed.” He disconnected.

She eyed the tactical screen again and found the Absolution fleet closing in. Individual beams soared through space from their bows, but none made any significant damage on her fleet. They were still too far outside their effective range, the only weakness they had found so far when it came to Absolution ship weapon systems, which the Messiah didn’t seem to have. Nevertheless, at the speed the hostile ships were moving they would soon be upon them anyway. It wouldn’t matter at that point.

“Alright then,” she murmured, steeling herself. “Prepare to fire everything we have left on my command.”

Mariam looked up from her console. “Everything, Commander?”

“Everything.”

The Vengala turned too slowly for her tastes, but it was enough. Aligning a warship took some time when they were facing the wrong way; if they entered the dimensional sea without doing so would potentially result in structural damage.

She was almost ready to take that chance.

Warning sirens sounded as she saw light coming from the Messiah again. It was preparing the same beam attack from before. She looked at her screen, noting that the ships she had told to leave had indeed left. The last of them were swallowed up by the dimensional sea while she observed.

“It’s just us left,” she said, raising her arm straight up. “Fleet, acquire target; the Messiah.”

“Then…” She threw down her arm, pointing at the behemoth on the screen. “Fire!”

A warship like the Vengala could fire its weapons for a long time with pinpoint accuracy. Eventually, though, it would run out of magical energy and would be forced to recharge or simply resupply. However, nothing prevented a warship to gather all its remaining energy into one single attack, spending it all in a massive destructive beam, along with secondary weaponry fitted along the ship. Hayate didn’t know the effect it would have. She had never seen it nor knew of anyone who had used it since it was so impractical; it was safe to say it was a last resort as the ship would become a useless brick afterwards if they didn’t leave a little for energy for their drives, which she had already planned for.

Nevertheless, four massive, white beams followed by magical missiles and various small magical projectiles roared from the four warships at the same time, taking up the large space between the two fleets. The Vengala shuddered from the sheer recoil, throwing Hayate off-balance. She caught herself before falling, awestruck. She could feel the magical energy through the hull, prickling her skin. Almost as if hypnotized, she stared at the screen while the beams made their way towards the Absolution fleet.

“Commander!”

Mariam’s voice brought her out of it, her mind returning. She didn’t have time to observe the beautiful spectacle. “Emergency warp, initiate. Go, go, go!”

As their drive hummed throughout the ship, the dimensional sea opened its maw to swallow them. Hayate watched with clenched fists as the beams hit the Messiah head-on. They scattered for a second against its shield, throwing themselves like solar flares around it, before they penetrated and caused a massive explosion that threw the dreadnaught backwards. It collided with another ship, breaking it apart, before magical fire feasted upon it.

The screen went black. They were safe in the dimensional sea.

Hayate sat down in her command chair, sweat dripping from her brow. All the tension in her body escaped and she suddenly felt tired. All she wanted was to go to her cabin and close her eyes for a few minutes, welcoming darkness.

But she couldn’t. Not yet.

“Mariam, send a message to Unforgiving. Tell them…” Tell them what? That she ran away, leaving them stranded? Nanoha would understand, but it didn’t feel right. Besides, that wasn’t what Hayate was doing. “Tell them I’m coming back for them, soon. The Absolution fleet is in the way, but once we’ve regrouped and resupplied we are coming for them.”

Mariam noted it down, stroking the keys. “Anything else?”

Hayate pondered for a moment. “Wish them luck. We all need it…”

The girl nodded and sent the message. In a matter of seconds it would arrive to Nanoha. Hayate wondered what her reaction would be and realized she had nothing to worry about.

She knew that prodigy too well at this point.

*

Hot. It was hard to breathe as if something kept stealing the air away from her. Her lungs were on fire, her head a mess. Her body ached. She gasped, coughing heavily as she sat up, struggling not to retch from the foul taste in her mouth. Her head spun and she had to shut her eyes to collect herself. What just happened? The shockwave had caught them or… No, it hadn’t. They had escaped, somehow, but—

Teana. Caught by the Aeon.

She looked around in a daze, trees hindering her view. Some of them had broken over the middle, twigs and leaves covering the ground. Next to a bush under a lone tree that had escaped the shockwave, she saw a body lying on its side. Steam rose from the familiar black suit, now covered in marks and cuts, and her heart jumped in her chest. Fear took charge, spurring her into action.

No, no, no, can’t be. I saved her! I had her in my arms!

Shrouded in denial, she crawled over to the girl while her body returned to her control little by little. With a shivering arm she reached out and grasped Teana’s shoulder. It was hot to the touch as she turned her over, but she didn’t feel any pain in her palm. Her magic still worked. Or she was in shock.

In one part of her mind she felt relieved when she found Teana’s eyes closed; it meant her face hadn’t been scorched off. Nanoha leaned in, listening for a breath. A faint gust of hot wind touched her skin. Yes! She patted Teana on the cheek, trying to rouse her. She didn’t seem to have trouble breathing, though she was unconscious. The shockwave must have thrown them a large distance, causing a concussion. Nanoha hoped she wouldn’t have internal injuries.

It didn’t take long until her eyes opened and, with a gruff voice, said; “I’m alright. I think. You can stop.”

Nanoha smiled, keeping a lid on her emotions, though didn’t hide her happiness at finding her alive. She helped the girl up until she sat on her knees while coughing assaulted her. Nanoha put together a container from scraps of metal lying around, gathered a few drops of rain and urged Teana to drink it. She swallowed greedily, almost choking.

Now she remembered what she had to do, her mind clearing. Nanoha tried to raise them on comms, but no one responded. All she got was interference. She figured magical energy still clogged the air. “Can’t contact them right now, but we should start moving towards Cranagan. We can rendezvous closer to there.”

Teana seemed about to argue, but instead nodded. Nanoha helped her up, supporting her on one side as they started to walk. Teana’s leg had a deep gash in it, blood streaming down to the bottom of her armor. She walked with a limp, taking careful steps. Pain made her grimace from time to time, but she didn’t mention any of it. Nanoha didn’t ask.

The devastation around them was apparent yet subtle as they walked, leaving the forest behind them. Nothing but mud and scraps of metal remained on the ground. Any organic matter that had lived within the area had melted along with the vegetation. How many lives had been lost in that one strike? A few hundred? Why? Nanoha turned it over in her head, thinking back, applying logic, using every single deductive thought she could muster and came up with nothing. It frustrated her to no end.

“How did we make it?” Teana asked after a few minutes. Her breathing had stabilized now, though her limp remained. Nanoha welcomed the interruption.

“I raised a shield just before the shockwave hit,” she said. “I lost control and it threw us away, but the shield resisted the rest of it. Somehow. I think we were so far away the shockwave had started to weaken.”

“How long has it been since the invasion started? A few days? It feels like I haven’t seen her in months.” She grasped the edge of Nanoha’s armor surrounding her arm and stared at her. She saw panic and loss in her eyes. “I need to see her. I miss her.”

“You will see her again,” Nanoha said, stroking the girl’s hair as they kept walking. “She isn’t dead.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“How can you know she’s dead?”

Teana stared at her for a moment before laughing, followed by coughing. When she’d collected herself she said; “You’re hopeless.”

“I know.”

They kept walking without a real destination while the magic within Nanoha’s body had started to regenerate at a low rate. Her armor contained extra supplies that kept supplying her body with magical energy whether she wanted to or not, but she didn’t want to waste it on flying just yet. If she decided to take flight – carrying Teana meant extra consumption – she wouldn’t be able to escape in case more Absolution forces lurked nearby. The safest option right now was to walk until they reached an area where they could take cover and tend to Teana’s wound.

As it was now, everything was flat and muddy with no possible cover. The rain had let up though, the sun poking through the thick clouds above. Its rays were warm, comforting. Then they disappeared again, reappearing a distance away. Annoying clouds.

Nanoha’s earpiece pinged and a message showed on her visor. She read it and sighed. “More bad news.”

Teana perked up, stricken with worry. “What about?”

“Hayate was forced to flee. The TSAB fleet left us behind.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but she wouldn’t blame her. If it had been Hayate’s decision, Nanoha would have supported it; she probably didn’t have much of a choice and she would have a good reason.

Teana shook her head. “Damnit,” was all she said.

It took them the better part of an hour to reach something that could be said to be a building. It had been one, at any rate, but it still had four walls and a roof. The sun had started to settle in the horizon as evening approached which meant this shelter had to do for now. Nanoha led Teana to a corner where she put her down, removed a part of her leg armor and examined the wound. The blood had dried up a long time ago and it didn’t seem infected. Nanoha decided to take a chance and left it as it was since Shamal would be able to help, but she was on the Vengala. She didn’t know how long it would before they returned, but Teana’s internal magical energy should be able to handle it. She would be able to tell in a few hours.

She put the armor back on and sat down next to her, listening for nothing in particular. Resting; taking a minute for her mind to catch up.

Silence had ruled between them for half an hour when Nanoha’s comms came to life. The static was so heavy she couldn’t hear anything for the first couple of seconds, but as time grew on she could make out a voice; Vivio.

“…Interfe--… survivors please resp-- … calling on all frequencies.”

“Vivio! Can you hear me?” The voice of her daughter rose the spirits within her. She’d see her soon again.

“Mom? Are you… --right?”

“I’m fine, but Teana is wounded. Where are you? How are the rest?”

“We are holed… an old building. Sending coordinates.” Numbers were displayed on her visor. She downloaded them to Raising Heart. ”None of us are injured… Though we haven’t… survivors.”

“We neither,” Nanoha said. “Stay put. We are coming to you.”

“Right. Be careful.”

She terminated the connection and rose, looking at Teana. She nodded, having heard the conversation. “I’m fine to go.”

They started to move again as night approached. The sun’s warmth that lessened for each minute left them tired and exhausted, struggling to stay on their feet. Nanoha used Raising Heart as a GPS from time to time, making a route with the coordinates. Everything they passed were mud, soon transforming into asphalt. They were walking on a road, one she didn’t recognize. Obviously, there wasn’t much she recognized anymore. The landscape itself had changed. Hills she’d walked on, buildings she’d entered, gone in a moment. At least Cranagan grew larger in the distance.

Lost in thought, she roused when she spotted a light in the distance, darkness threatening to envelop them. It was a lone building attached to a garage. Every other building around had been demolished. The coordinates pointed to it.

“Has to be them,” Teana said.

Nanoha nodded as a figure stepped out of the door to greet them.

“Mom!”

Vivio ran up to her and hugged them both -- awkwardly since Nanoha still supported Teana -- and with her help they brought Teana inside where Vita, Yuuno, Signum and Zafira waited for them. The light came from Laevateinn that had been placed in the middle of the room. It burned from magical fire.

“Is she badly hurt?” Zafira asked as they put Teana down.

Teana shook her head. “I’m fine. I think it’s healed.”

He murmured something about taking a look anyway and bent down to check. Nanoha took a seat next to Yuuno, one worry gone from her mind. The room was empty, scraped clean. The floor was hard, but dry.

“Any signs of the Absolution?” he asked after a moment of silence. He seemed tired, lost.

“None. You?”

“No.” He shuddered, closed his eyes. “All those people, dead in an instant. I’ve been holed up in the Library for too long. I thought I was prepared for this.”

Nanoha put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “None of us were prepared.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Maybe.”

She found no more words and let the subject drift away. Vivio sat down next to her and leaned her head against Nanoha’s shoulder. “I’m tired, mom.”

“Already?” Nanoha grinned. “I thought you had more energy than that.”

She appeared insulted, pouting. “Mom.”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

Nanoha giggled and wrapped an arm around her. “Alright.”

To her side she could hear Vita sleeping with a loud snore, sprawled on the floor. Signum sat against the wall, eyes closed. Nanoha couldn’t tell if she was sleeping or not. Zafira seated himself next to Signum, leaving Teana alone. She’d fallen asleep as well, breathing deeply. Even after a day everyone in the room were exhausted.

Sleep. I’ve been sleeping for years. It’s time to wake up and smell reality…

Nanoha remained awake for an hour more, listening to the sound of war in the distance before drifting off into a worried sleep.

Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

@WarpObscura: Unforgiving has many warships that hasn't been mentioned in canon, since in my mind the TSAB Navy is quite large to cover such absurd distances. I'm putting in more hard/soft sci-fi into this than canon offers since the series doesn't really show much ship-to-ship combat.

I'm very interested in the aerospace combat, so I can't wait to see more. How "hard" are you making it? Is it all close range like Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and Trek etc.? Or is it realistic thousands or more of km like Codex Mass Effect, Honorverse...?

And what did you mean "don’t think this you’ll get away with this unscathed.”?

I'm very interested in the aerospace combat, so I can't wait to see more. How "hard" are you making it? Is it all close range like Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and Trek etc.? Or is it realistic thousands or more of km like Codex Mass Effect, Honorverse...?

And what did you mean "don’t think this you’ll get away with this unscathed.”?

Oops. Typo, lol.

As for the combat, when it comes to weapons it's quite soft, though it involves long distances. TSAB has less restriction due to magic, while the Absolution has to rely mostly on tech. Navigation also has limits, especially for the Absolution, and since these ships are quite large, they are sloooooow. Heavily inspired by EVE, as that's the verse I'm the most familiar with.

I realize the chapters already written might not correspond to this concept, but I'll work with it as l move along.

EDIT: To clarify a bit more regarding ships...

Spoiler for Brainstorming, take with a pinch of salt:

The ship Hayate controls, Vengala, is the same class of ship as those she mentions in this chapter, such as Cranagan's Glory. In my mind, as this is set a little into the future, they are a new line of ships with heavy resemblance to the Wolfram http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Wolfram

As mentioned on the wiki, she is an "LS Class", whatever that means. As I'm disregarding Force, going from StrikerS, one could say the Vengala is an "LS+ Class" as well. As will be seen in future chapters, the Vengala and her sister ships does not have the Augusto Cannon of the Wolfram, but instead are equipped with the more standard Arc-en-Ciel, which would make it a XVI Class... unless the Wolfram is one of a kind modified ship.

The other ships that aren't mentioned by name are most likely XV or L Classes. The "new" thing about LS+ is a higher supply of magical energy, enabling more rapid weapons discharge and more frequent Dimensional Jumps. Mind, this "magical energy supply" is something I apply myself, as I've never heard of it in the series. Just, the ships has to be powered by something that isn't infinite as it'd be a little OP. Hence EVE logic.

Arashi rubbed his eyes as he, Corona, Vivio and Einhart got out of that shack. "Ugh, too hot." He couldn't imagine how someone could work in such conditions so easily. "Now what?"

"Hope that Lyos will take us to somewhere we can get into contact the Bureau." Einhart leaned against the shack and sighed heavily. "I'd rather not face things like these Mazoku again." She could barely touch them, how the heck could anyone hope to harm them with anything if they weren't really there? Even with her progress with Black magic, she doubted that she'd be too much more effective against them than she already was. 'Maybe if I had that Dragon Slayer spell that Pokota used?'

Einhart's eyes widened as she saw a large red sphere heading their way. "Watch out!" She tackled Arashi out of the way as the sphere passed by where he was a moment ago, hitting the ground with a thunderous explosion.

Blinking, Arashi looked at Einhart, who was only inches away from his face. "Ah, thanks." She nodded and got off of him as Teo flew over to her and activated, allowing her to go to her adult mode just as Vivio did the same with Sacred Heart.

Corona gripped Brunzel tightly, wondering what she could do in this situation. She gasped and stared in shock, along with the others as monsters of all shapes and sizes moved towards them. "What are they?"

"Lesser Demons!" Corona turned to see Lyos, Nila, Pokota and Nove rush out of the shack. "Damn, there's a lot."

"Incredibly weak though, they're bonded with physical items, so you can beat them with normal weapons and spells, but they're as tough as a boulder." Unsheathing Banisher, the man grinned as water started to spiral around the large blade. "Not that it matters to me in the slightest."

"You might want to reconsider your position." A gruff voice spoke up as a beast man that looked like a humanoid tiger in an unusual armor stepped forward. "After all, Knight of the Aqualord, you'll have to deal with me."

"Duclis!" Pokota couldn't believe that his old friend would work with Mazoku of all creatures. "What's going on? Why are you attacking?! You know that I've..."

"Ah, Pokota," the beastman's growling voice was almost sorrowful as he spoke. "It's been so long, I thought you had died."

"No way!" Pokota swung his arms to the side. "Come on! Help us! We finally have an item that might just break the seal on Taforashia! We can finally."

"It won't matter." Duclis closed his eyes as he shook his head. "The kingdom's long gone and its people forgotten. There's nothing left..." A red blade snapped to life in his right hand. "Except revenge against all those who refused to help.

"Duclis..." Pokota couldn't keep the shock off of his face. "Why?"

"Even with all the advances in technology, especially to medicine, no one has tried to save Taforashia. For that, they will all die."

"I didn't even know there was a Taforashia." Vivio grunted as Einhart elbowed her in the side.

"Not now." Einhart muttered and looked around, wondering how to deal with these things.

"Knight of the Aqua Lord, you're mine, as for your friends..." Duclis raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. "I hope they can handle Lesser Demons, some Mazoku and a magic tank."

"No! You didn't!" Pokota stared in shock as he looked past Duclis and saw what looked like a deformed elephant head on wheels heading his way. "Duclis!"

"Destroy all of them!"

The Lesser Demons let out a scream and rushed through the air towards the group.

A second later, a piercing white light crossed over the group, destroying the lead attackers in an instant. The other Lesser Demons stopped their assualt and looked at the one who had attacked them.

"Nila!" Lyos saw her out of the corner of his eye. "Think you can take them out?"

She nodded and pointed her right index finger at the Lesser Demons again. "Abyss Flare." Was all she whispered when another similar beam of white lanced out, burning away the Lesser Demons in its path.

Lyos smirked at Duclis and ran forward, his sword slammed into Duclis' much thinner energy blade. His eyes widened as the water around his sword dissipated. "What the?"

"Surprised, boy?" Duclis threw his arm to the side, knocking Lyos off balance before grabbing his clothes and throwing him over his shoulder. "Knight of the Aqua Lord you might be, but the Zannafar Armor makes me immune to your magic."

"Zannafar, huh?" Lyos rolled to his feet and narrowed his eyes. "I've heard of that, it's dangerous, but it makes you unkillable normally." Water formed around his blade before hardening and becoming ice. "I wonder, what's better? Your armor or my sword?"

Duclis snarled and rushed Lyos, his energy blade slashing into the Banisher. Duclis' eyes widened as the ice only gave a slight crack but did not shatter. "How?"

"This ice is so dense that I could use it to cut a mountain into pieces." Lyos smirked and pulled his sword back before swinging horizontally at Duclis, which the beastman parried with his energy blade . "You think you're good enough?!" Lyos yelled as he brought his sword around and over his head, dropping it down on Duclis, who leaned out of the way to avoid the strike.

A sudden concentrated burst of water sent Duclis flying backwards. The beastman growled and threw his arms to the side, breaking the water apart. "Fool!" He glared at Lyos as his energy sword shrank in size. "You think that you can stop me with something so pathetic?"

"Well, usually I don't have to work much harder than that." Lyos smirked at him. "Usually my enemies are pretty pathetic." He smirked as the air around him started to waver. "Shall we see just what I can really do with water?"

Duclis just sneered at him as a second energy blade formed in his left hand. "Let's see you be cocky when I'm done with you." He suddenly threw the energy blades in his hands forward like a spear, shocking Lyos enough tha the was just barely able to create a wall of ice to stop the attack cold.

"Didn't know you could do that." Lyos admitted as the air continued to waver. "Guess I can't play anymore." With a yell, he rushed in, his sword held high above his head as he twisted around a couple of more thrown energy spears before slashing downwards, striking Duclis on his chest and getting the beastman to grunt in surprise and his eyes widened as the sword slammed into him with such force that he was sent flying backwards into and through a tree, causing it to break and collapse around him.

Duclis looked up with narrowed eyes, that attack didn't hurt him at all, but it was obvious that he had seriously underestimated the Knight's strength. When Lyos pointed his sword forward, Duclis wondered what was going on, until he saw the air boiling around the sword. "Oh hell."

Lyos smirked as the boiling water spun around his sword before launching itself at Duclis in such a way that it looked like a coiled spring. The water raced at him so loudly it sounded like a thunderclap had gone off as it tore the ground asunder and slammed into Duclis with the force of a stampeding dragon and sending him crashing to the ground several feet away.

Duclis growled as he got up. This was starting to get annoying.

(---)

"Stay back!" Nove yelled at the girls as she called up her Barrier Jacket. "Just stay back here, I'm not losing anymore of you!"

Arashi nodded as Nove used her Airliner to rush towards the Lesser Demons. "Good luck." He whispered and turned around as he heard the door to the shack suddenly opened. "Ixy, we're in trouble."

"It's Ixpellia." She muttered as she held her new sword in her right hand and looked at the descending demons that Nila was destroying from just a few feet away. "This is bad." She muttered and jumped back as several dark hands erupted through the ground. "What the?"

"Come here..." A female voice spoke up from somewhere. "Come play with Grelia."

Turning around, Nila pointed her hand at the ground and several white beams of energy pierced the ground, getting a scream from the shadows.

"Excuse me." Ozel said softly as she chopped another hand apart. "I cannot let you harm these children." She looked at Nila. "Continue to deal with those creatures, these blades were created to harm Astral creatures."

Nodding, Nila turned back to the Lesser Demons and ran forward, launching several large spheres of fire into the group.

"You think normal swords can stop me?" Grelia's voice was heard around the group as the multiple shadow arms lashed out at them. "I'm not so easy."

Ozel slashed through three arms and watched as they disappeared. "Could have fooled me."

"Hey!" Vivio yelped as she formed a multi-colored sphere in her hands. "Watch where you're grabbing!"

"Oh ho?" Grelia chuckled as more hands formed out of the ground and shot at Vivio. "Don't like it when I grab you, huh?"

"Divine... BUSTER!" Vivio let out a scream as she punched the sphere, sending out a burst of magical energy that had Grelia screaming in pain. "Take that!"

"How?!" Grelia hissed as steam came out of the ground. "I'll kill you!"

"Vivio!" Ixpellia yelled as she saw several hands erupt out of Vivio's own shadow and wrap around her body before grabbing her throat and squeezing. "Vivio!"

Vivio grabbed at her throat as her air was cut off but found that she couldn't grab anything as the shadows were completely incorporeal.

"Vivio!" Einhart yelled as she spun around and held an open palm out at her friend. "Hold still! Elemekia Lance!" The energy blade she launched at Vivio hit her square in the chest, but it made Grelia hiss in pain and let go of Vivio's throat.

Vivio dropped to her knees as the hands let go of her body and gasped to get air back into her lungs.

"Vivio!" Einhart ran towards her friend but jumped back as a hand shot straight out at her. "Are you okay?"

Vivio nodded and rolled away, quickly getting to her feet and looking around. "Worse than I thought." She mumbled to herself.

Meanwhile, Corona whimpered as she quickly backed up against the shack. What could she do? Her golems were next to useless in this kind of fight. Even if she could create a golem to fight against those Lesser Demons, what would happen if one of those Mazoku things came after her?

"Why?" She whimpered and fell to her knees. "Why am I so weak?"

A snapping noise drew her attention and Corona turned, only to go pale as she gasped. "No..."

The last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was a grinning face.

(---)

Pokota grumbled as he blasted another Lesser Demon while making his way to the magic tanks that were firing down at the shack. Well, trying to, he was quick to intercept the attacks as he got close. "I'll take you out from here, you bastard!"

"Oh? We haven't even met yet, it's quite rude to call me a bastard." A male voice spoke up and Pokota spun around to see a trim man in what looked like a skin tight black body suit, blonde hair that was combed back and a handsome face...

Well, half of a face, the entire right side was just white, as if it was paper for an artist who had grown bored with the drawing and just stopped.

"Do I frighten you? My name is Vizea."

"Mazoku." Pokota growled and glanced at the tank as it took aim at the shack again. "Oh no you don't."

"I think it does." Vizea smirked as black spiraling spears shot out of the white of his face.

Pokota's eyes widened as he had to dodge out of the way of cannon fire and the black spears. "Dammit!" He screamed as he watched the attack got near the shack, sending his companions sprawling.

"Oh, too bad." Vizea smirked at him. "If only you had time to cast the Dragon Slave..." Pokota glared at him and the Mazoku chuckled. "I imagine that the reason you didn't cast it before was because there were too many Lesser Demons between you and the tank?"

"Elmekia Flame!"

"Now, now!" Vizea jumped backwards, twisted to the side and bent backwards to avoid the attacks. "Is that any way to talk to me?" Chuckling, the Mazoku flung his arms out at Pokota, causing more spears of darkness to fling at the rabbit. "After all, Mr. Duclis was so kind as to tell me so much about you over the years." When Pokota stared at him in shock, the Mazoku continued, grinning at him. "Who would have thought that such a puny little animal was actually a prince, hmm? Maybe we should tell your companions what you're hiding? How it was your kingdom that once had these weapons."

Pokota growled and grabbed at his chest, revealing a zipper in the middle of it. "You... Shut up!" Pulling it down with his long ears, he reached inside and pulled out what looked to be a sword hilt. "Light Come Forth!"

For the first time, Vizea looked rather stunned. "What? The Sword of Light? But that's impossible! It was sent back to the Dark staff years ago!"

Pokota would have answered, but he was distracted by a cannon firing. "Damn you!"

"That won't work!" Vizea snapped his hands out as Pokota tried to fly to the tank again, sending several black spikes in front of the rabbit. "You won't be interfering with our plan."

Pokota narrowed his eyes at the Mazoku. "Fine! Dark MIST!" He clapped his hands in front of him and a blanket of darkness covered the immediate area, blocking out all light. Pokota was a bit dismayed to find that he could barely see the Sword of Light in this darkness, but he could live with that, he knew what he needed to do.

"Blocking my sight?" Vizea snorted as he looked around. "My eyes are beyond anything a mere human has. I don't need to see you to find you."

"Oh, I know that." Pokota's voice came from his left. "But I didn't use this to hide from you."

Vizea snorted as he fired several dark spears into the mist. "It doesn't matter, you're going to die."

"Yeah, you are." Vizea's eye widened as he heard Pokota's voice from right behind him. "Got'cha!"

"What?!" Vizea jumped back, but not before his left arm was removed from his body. "GUH!"

"I missed." Pokota muttered as he flew through the mist. "Oh well, that should buy me enough time."

Grunting, Vizea fell to his knees and gripped his arm. "Damn, I was careless, I'll just..."

"Darkness Beyond Twilight...
Crimson Beyond Blood That Flows
Buried in the Stream of Time
Is Where your power grows
I pledge myself to conquer
All the Foes that stand
Against the mighty gift bestowed
In my unworthy hand
Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed
by the power you and I possess..."

Vizea could only gape as the Dark Mist spiraled and gave way to a grinning rabbit holding a red and black sphere above his head. "No..."

Vizea's eye widened as his pupil shrank in fear. "Damn you." He muttered as the spell rushed in on him.

Pokota nodded as the Dragon Slave easily destroyed the magic tank and the Mazoku disappeared in the explosion. "That's one less..." He trailed off as a brilliant light caught his attention. "What the heck is that?"

(---)

Nove growled as she kicked another Lesser Demon's head off. At least most of these things seemed made out of gargoyle statues and not something worse. She was thankful for the support from down below, though she suspected something bad was happening. "This is too easy."

"You think so?" Uno's voice spoke up from her left foot. "I mean, it's not like these things are made of granite even. I think it's just some softer stones."

"I'd be more worried about the fact that the shadows seem to be attacking our friends." Jail spoke up and Nove's eyes widened as she spun around on her Airliner and saw the dark hands trying to attack her friends.

"Dammit!" Nove cursed and started to move forward, but stopped as several Lesser Demons got in her way. "Fuck! They're just a distraction!"

"A dangerous one." Jail said as the clawed hands of the Lesser Demons suddenly got longer and sharper than before.

"Obviously!" Uno snorted at him. "Though, I have to wonder, if they're just a distraction, what for? Do any of us have anything their master would want?"

"Now's not the time!" Nove growled as she jumped back and reactivated her Airliner. "Just..." She kicked one in the arm and grinned as she kicked through it. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" The cyborg screamed as she quickly spun around and slammed her feet into the Lesser Demon's face, causing it to fall apart. "...I'm beginning to think that these aren't Demons at all."

"Figured it out?" A whispered voice reached Nove as she looked around for the source of it. Surprisingly, the creatures around her weren't moving. "They aren't true Lesser Demons, but rather stone constructs, similar to your friend's golem that she used before."

"What about Corona?" Nove hissed as she reached for her gauntlet and did some adjusting to the device.

"Oh, is that her name?" The voice whispered some more. "I wouldn't know, all I know is that it was interesting. And making these constructs look and feel like Lesser Demons was so useful."

"You were after Corona, weren't you?" Uno's voice broke into the conversation. "What good is a girl who can only create golems anyway?"

"I'm afraid that's not my place to tell you. But if you survive, maybe you'll find out." A snapping sound was heard and the constructs let out a bellow and rushed in.

Nove smirked and held her arms to the side. "Why don't you just... Chill?" She spun around a few times as a blue cloud erupted from her gauntlets, instantly freezing the constructs and sending them to the ground below, where they shattered into pieces.

Ignoring them, Nove rushed back to the shack and hoped that she wasn't too late. Sure, from what she could see, everyone was still alive and well, but they were still so far away from her. "What I wouldn't give to know how to teleport." She muttered as she moved as fast as she could.

(---)

Duclis smirked as he threw a tree at Lyos. He doubted it would do much to this guy, but it would suffice for what he needed.

Lyos slashed the tree in half, letting it fall on either side of him. "What was the point of that?"

"You lose." The beastman grinned at him. "Too bad you decided to fight me alone, if you had help you might have..."

"Duclis!" The beastman gasped and jumped away from Lyos as Pokota flew in and swung down with the Sword of Light. "How dare you ally yourself with a Mazoku?!"

Duclis shook his head slowly. "You'll never understand. Even after all this time, all you want to do is restore Taforashia. Don't you get it, Pokota?" He held an open hand out at his friend. "The kingdom's been destroyed, there's nothing left there. Even us, our bodies are sealed away with the rest of them."

"So?! That doesn't mean you have to work with a Mazoku!" Pokota threw his arms to the side while his ears held the Sword of Light in front of him. "Come on!" He begged his old friend. "Please? Whatever you're being offered by the Mazoku..." He trailed off as Duclis laughed at him. "Duclis?"

"You think a Mazoku made me an offer?" He grinned at Pokota. "Vizea works for me! Not the other way around!" He smirked at Pokota's shocked look. "I should let you know, we will soon have completed Zannafars. And with that..." He laughed as he brought his hands up in front of him. "We'll make them all pay."

"Duclis..." Pokota could only stare in dismay.

"You think..." Lyos looked at him and grinned, despite the pain. "That I'd let you?" He chuckled and forced himself to his feet.

Duclis stared at him. "...How?"

Lyos chuckled and removed his hand, revealing that there was minimal damage. "To master Holy magic means that you can control all attributes of that element. My element's water, you know what the human body is made up of?"

Duclis snorted. "So, you can heal. Big deal. That won't be enough when we make our move!" He turned his back to the two of them and started to walk away. "Next time, you won't be so lucky, Knight of the Aqua Lord."

"Duclis!" Pokota screamed and flew after him. "You get back here!"

Lyos didn't try to stop the rabbit, he knew Pokota would be okay, the Sword of Light was one of the two weapons that was said to be able to hurt the Zannafar after all. 'An army? How could he control that? The last Zannafar was supposed to be uncontrollable and destroyed everything.'

(---)

Ixpellia frowned as she watched her friends have to deal with the shadow-like hands that kept raising themselves out of the ground and attacking the group. "Watch out!" She yelled at Ozel, who turned a half a second too late. "No." Ixpellia's eyes widened as Ozel's head was removed from her body, flying several feet and rolling in the grass as her body fell down harmlessly.

"That's one. Who's next?" Grelia sing-songed as the shadow arms danced around the attacks that Einhart and Arashi were launching at her. "I don't know just what you're doing, but I do know that I don't like it."

Ixpellia looked around and frowned as she noticed something unusual about the grass and dirt that they were on. 'Why is it..?'

"You can't fight the shadows, who knows where I'll strike from?"

"Shadows?" Ixpellia muttered before pulling out one of her long, thin blades and throwing it into the ground hard enough to bury it to the hilt. When Grelia let out a scream, she nodded in satisfaction. "Thought so."

"HOW?!" Grelia screamed as the ground seemed to shift and spin before pulling itself upwards, revealing a tall, multi-armed creature with no face. "How did you..?"

"Know? You said the shadows and then I noticed the ground was dark." Ixpellia grinned at the Mazoku. "Now we can deal with you."

"I'll kill you, brat!"

"No, you won't." A soft voice spoke up and Grelia turned around to see Nila pointing an open palm at her. "Blam Blazer."

Grelia let out a scream as the blinding white light tore a hole through her body. "You..." She hissed as she faded away. "I'll kill all of you..."

"Thank you." Ixpellia nodded at Nila and looked at the creatures still in the sky, heading towards them. "This is..."

"Ixy..." Vivio spoke up as she noticed something.

"It's Ixpellia!" The redhead glared at her friend. "What?" She blinked when Vivio pointed at her sword. "What the?"

"The Blessed Blade was designed to absorb miasma, you know." An older voice spoke up and Ixpellia spun around, yelping as she saw Masha smiling at her. "You must have unlocked it's power somehow. That's good news!"

"When did you get out here?"

"It doesn't matter!" Masha shook his head. "Now, I should mention that all my swords have nice effects, that one I can't figure out, but I'm sure that it'll be good."

Ixpellia looked at the sword in confusion and waved it up and down, blinking in shock as the air seemed to be displaced by pure energy. It was only for a moment and the energy dissipated as quickly as it had came.

Looking up at the creatures, Ixpellia held her sword out to the side. "I wonder, old man, Masha, what was it you were trying to do with this sword?"

Masha shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "I'm not sure then."

Ixpellia looked at the sword and concentrated, pouring a small amount of her magic into it. Sure, she didn't use her magic for much these days, but maybe a small amount wouldn't...

"Ixy, what are you..?" Vivio trailed off and jumped back as a magical silver-colored aura surrounded the blade and erupted outwards.

Ixpellia's eyes were focused ahead of her. "Blessed Blade, please, live up to your name and clense the skies."

"Think we should move?" Vivio looked at Einhart, who was already running past her and behind Ixpellia. "Hey!"

Jumping up and onto the roof of the shack, Nila watched with some interest what Ixpellia was going to do next.

Ixpellia gripped the sword with both hands and bit her lower lip as the thing shook in her hands. "What... No... This is..." She looked at the skies with a determined expression. "The Blessed... BLADE!" Letting out a wordless scream, she swung it across her body at the enemies.

For a moment, nothing happened.

"...Was I wrong?" Ixpellia muttered, before falling down in shock as the air shimmered for a moment before a large wave of silver light rushed outwards and towards the creatures in the sky.

"...Woah..." Einhart could only stare, wide-eyed as the energy crashed into the oncoming enemies, causing them to shatter and explode in mid air as the attack continued on, unabated.

"Oh, so THAT'S what it can do after absorbing some energy!" Masha slapped a fist into his open palms. "This is good news! Yes..."

"Hey! Is everyone okay?!" Lyos' voice was heard as he ran back to them. "I saw the light and thought..." He trailed off as he looked at the group. "Looks like everyone's okay then." He looked at Nila as she touched down next to him. "So..?" She shook her head. "Too easy?" When she nodded, Lyos felt like swearing.

Nila looked him over and frowned as she saw him putting his hand on his chest. She was about to touch his arm when she heard a voice interrupt them.

"Hey!" Nove yelled as she rolled over the ground to look at everyone. "What happened? Where's Corona?!"

"Corona?" Vivio looked around and paled as she couldn't see her friend. "Where is she? Arashi? Where are you?!"

"Over here!" Arashi yelled as he came out from around the shack. "I saw Corona was missing awhile ago and I slipped away to make sure she was okay." There was worry written all over his face as he shook. "But, I couldn't find her anymore. She disappeared!"

"DAMMIT!" Nove screamed as she realized she was too late, again. "Corona!"

(---)

Several miles away, Vizea grimaced as he reformed in the real world. "That.... I can't believe that! He could use the Dragon Slave?!" It was no minor miracle that a Mazoku such as himself had been able to survive that. Hell, even Generals and Priests had trouble surviving that spell, and he was nothing more than a minor Mazoku. "And that Sword of Light..." Snarling, the Mazoku disappeared from the world again. He had revenge to plot against that rabbit thing.

"And next time, you will die, I swear it." His voice lingered in the air as he disappeared.

Spoiler for Late MST3K:

Me: Aw man... hang in there, mate. it will turn around for you, sooner or later.

"I swear, she turned red as a beet! She didn't know what to do, so she fidgeted a bit before she bolted! I had to apologize to him in her absence."

"Poor Fate-chan."

The aforementioned blonde only flushed and lowered her head further in shame, trying to avoid the expressions of her four friends as they walked among the throng of students departing from school. She knew they weren't teasing her or condemning her, but damn if she didn't feel utterly embarrassed by her reaction. How was she supposed to react to something like that!?

"Ahhh, that would've been so funny to see," Arisa remarked, linking her hands together behind her head. The fourteen-year-old was grinning at the thought, making Suzuka, Nanoha, and Hayate chuckle. She felt bad for the boy who confessed to Nanoha's best friend, though--but hey, that was Fate's fault, and she had to go back and give him an answer, didn't she?

"Ne, ne, Arisa-chan," Nanoha spoke, trotting forward to catch up with the American girl. "Have YOU been confessed to?"

Well, that was one way to derail her train of thought. Now the girls were looking at her, even Fate. Arisa sputtered.

"W-w-w-what kind of question is that!?" she demanded.

Nanoha never lost her smile. "I know why Fate-chan gets all her love letters; because she's a foreigner, but so are you! So I wondered if you had a special someone that you haven't told us about."

"We've caught you staring off into space like she was thinking about someone," Hayate teased, grinning like a cat.

Suzuka blinked as a huge blush spread across Arisa's cheeks, causing Nanoha to giggle as they hit the target. "Really, Arisa-chan?" she asked, surprised--the girl's nature made it difficult to express her real feelings at times. Arisa's movements stopped entirely at the question.

"Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked, looking a tiny bit concerned. Had they pushed her too far by accident?

Arisa turned around, looking so hard at Nanoha the girl took an unconscious step back. It was like something had clicked, and Nanoha knew that her short-tempered friend had made a decision.

Of course, it wasn't at all what Nanoha was expecting when the blonde flung herself at her, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

Each of the girls' eyes went wide at the sight. Even some of the others around them stopped to watch what was going on. Suzuka's hands were clasped tight in front of her chest, Hayate hid a knowing grin behind a hand. Fate's book-bag hit the ground.

Arisa only squeezed the girl tighter, her blushing countenance hidden from the other girls. She looked off to the side. "A girl can't have a friend like you and not fall for her."

The realization hit her like someone had turned her own Divine Buster on her. She'd never heard that kind of cute voice from Arisa! Her mind whirled at the sudden realization. Everyone was staring as Arisa buried her face against Nanoha's neck, and there was only thing the poor girl could do.

Her brain shut down entirely, and she fainted.

Arisa blinked, staring dumbly as Nanoha collapsed backwards, her face frozen in a stupefied expression. "Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting."

"She swear, she turned red as a beet! She didn't know what to do, so she fidgeted a bit before she bolted! I had to apologize to him in her absence."

"Poor Fate-chan."

The aforementioned blonde only flushed and lowered her head further in shame, trying to avoid the expressions of her four friends as they walked among the throng of students departing from school. She knew they weren't teasing her or condemning her, but damn if she didn't feel utterly embarrassed by her reaction. How was she supposed to react to something like that!?

"Ahhh, that would've been so funny to see," Arisa remarked, linking her hands together behind her head. The fourteen-year-old was grinning at the thought, making Suzuka, Nanoha, and Hayate chuckle. She felt bad for the boy who confessed to Nanoha's best friend, though--but hey, that was Fate's fault, and she had to go back and give him an answer, didn't she?

"Ne, ne, Arisa-chan," Nanoha spoke, trotting forward to catch up with the American girl. "Have YOU been confessed to?"

Well, that was one way to derail her train of thought. Now the girls were looking at her, even Fate. Arisa sputtered.

"W-w-w-what kind of question is that!?" she demanded.

Nanoha never lost her smile. "I know why Fate-chan gets all her love letters; because she's a foreigner, but so are you! So I wondered if you had a special someone that you haven't told us about."

"We've caught you staring off into space like she was thinking about someone," Hayate teased, grinning like a cat.

Suzuka blinked as a huge blush spread across Arisa's cheeks, causing Nanoha to giggle as they hit the target. "Really, Arisa-chan?" she asked, surprised--the girl's nature made it difficult to express her real feelings at times. Arisa's movements stopped entirely at the question.

"Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked, looking a tiny bit concerned. Had they pushed her too far by accident?

Arisa turned around, looking so hard at Nanoha the girl took an unconscious step back. It was like something had clicked, and Nanoha knew that her short-tempered friend had made a decision.

Of course, it wasn't at all what Nanoha was expecting when the blonde flung herself at her, wrapping her arms around her tightly.

Each of the girls' eyes went wide at the sight. Even some of the others around them stopped to watch what was going on. Suzuka's hands were clasped tight in front of her chest, Hayate hid a knowing grin behind a hand. Fate's book-bag hit the ground.

Arisa only squeezed the girl tighter, her blushing countenance hidden from the other girls. She looked off to the side. "A girl can't have a friend like you and not fall for her."

The realization hit her like someone had hit her with her own Divine Buster. She'd never heard that kind of cute voice from Arisa! Her mind whirled at the sudden realization. Everyone was staring as Arisa buried her face against Nanoha's neck, and there was only thing the poor girl could do.

Her brain shut down entirely, and she fainted.

Arisa blinked, staring dumbly as Nanoha collapsed backwards, her face frozen in a stupefied expression. "Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting."

Hehehe, poor Nanoha she didn't such powerful attack all of sudden. But, I sure, we can understand Arisa - Nanoha just too cute and cuddle. But now fate and Yuuno should look for another competitor for Nanoha's affection.

Nanoha woke from Vivio shaking her. “Mom, it’s morning. We have to move.” She rustled herself awake and joined the others in getting rid of any signs they had been in the building, which didn’t take long. Then the group made speed towards Cranagan. The weather reflected itself in them; gray, solemn and quiet. For everything they knew going on around them, everything was unnaturally quiet; no sound of battle, no troop transports, no screams of torment. The sounds from the night before had vanished. The morning was cold, but not so much that it hindered their progress.

They moved along a small road that splintered off into several sections. At one point they had to fly over a ruined bridge and then traverse a tunnel. It was dark and damp inside, but no Absolution forces waited for them in an ambush, despite Nanoha’s insistence. Vivio had laughed at her, but at the same time admitted she might as well have been right. Paranoia rested over them like fog.

When they reached the first block of the city they started to move carefully, making sure to scout their surroundings before taking risky decisions of where to go. Their objective lay in the heart of the city, a fair bit to traverse by foot, but they didn’t want to take to the skies; without reconnaissance they ran the risk of flying right over Absolution anti-air, removing their element of surprise.

An hour passed while they walked and they eventually stopped at an abandoned supermarket. Teana, who had insisted she scout ahead despite her injury, had reported weird noises up ahead, probably from a yard behind an apartment complex. She hadn’t risked getting seen so she had only gone close enough to hear it.

“Alright,” Nanoha said when her report was done. “Yuuno, come with me. We’ll go and investigate. The rest of you, stay here and wait for my orders.”

No one objected, though Vivio tried, shut down by a hard stare from Nanoha. The duo moved into the apartment complex Teana had indicated, made their way to the second floor and found a room facing the yard in question. From outside they could hear a strange voice speaking.

Nanoha pointed down and got on her knees, Yuuno following. Together they crawled towards the window, which for Nanoha was a challenge since her armor obstructed her movements a fair bit; she temporarily dissolved some of it with magic which helped. They could still hear the voice speaking in an alien language. Yuuno couldn’t understand it, though indicated he was recording. The language was oddly human, using letters and words that to Nanoha sounded just like another language back on Earth. As far as she knew, though, droids couldn’t talk. Besides, the voice didn’t sound digital, though it was muffled.

She looked over at Yuuno once they reached the window sill. He nodded. Both of them rose and peered outside.

What they saw had once been a playground, not a yard. Droids were walking here and there, patrolling, garden objects being used as barriers. Weapons had been stashed where the swings were supposed to be. She could see them lying a distance away, metal bent and destroyed. A structure of some sorts had been erected in a corner; a perfect cube with a closed hatch. Black as night.

The droids and the structure weren’t what caught her attention the most, though. A humanoid being stood in the middle of the playground, talking to the droids. At first she thought she was hallucinating, combat and lack of sleep getting to her, but the humanoid seemed real enough. She would have called him human if it wasn’t for the white, sickly skin visible above his armored suit. Like Nanoha’s it was black, but much larger and bulkier. Tubes stuck out from his abdomen and back, slithering around him up to his neck where they entered the suit again. His face, beyond its whiteness, looked old and sick, with bottomless black eyes. A mask of some sorts covered his mouth, which explained his weird voice.

He towered above his prisoner who stood beside him. He was easily over two meters tall compared to the woman. Nanoha, if asked, could give an exact number because she knew – despite the deep wounds on the woman’s head and blood staining her clothes, despite the pale skin with burn marks all over – Fate’s height by heart.

She had to restrain herself not to give away their position as fury boiled the blood in her veins. She clenched Raising Heart until her knuckles grew white. The humanoid that stood there, holding Fate’s neck, became the sole motivator to annihilate the Absolution. He represented everything the Absolution stood for.

For that, he had to die. They all had to die.

Yuuno mumbled something she didn’t hear. She was too unfocused now, a little surprised at herself. She tried to calm down while a squad of droids approached, the humanoid releasing Fate’s neck. He waved to the droids and then backed up, his coughing reminiscent of laughing.

She watched in horror as the droids raised their weapons and prepared to fire. They were an execution squad.

Nanoha didn’t hesitate and unleashed her fury.

*

Hayate arrived at Iljaren Station an hour after escaping from Mid-Childa, slipping out of the Dimensional Sea into normal space. The general mood of the crew had been mellow, but hopeful. They didn’t seem to resent her for her decision, instead taking comfort in the fact they were still alive. The other Commanders had implied the same, though Tamil remained somewhat hostile towards her. She realized it would take something more to make an ally out of him.

Iljaren Station had expected their arrival and had prepared docking bays for them, cleaning out any other ships that may have been there. The ships in question now orbited the station, remaining on stand-by. The station itself was a thin tower with ten limps sprouting out from it, top to bottom. Each limb had two docking bays of an older design with physical clamps to hold the ships in place. The station had a teleporter, though, along with a multitude of weapons barely visible on its structure.

Hayate hoped they wouldn’t be needed.

“Welcome home… I guess.” She was in contact with the Overseer of Iljaren, who had introduced himself as Chris, and made arrangements for possible R&R for the crew until their ship had been resupplied. The first impression of Chris was that he didn’t give a damn about military honorifics and the like, which would have forced him to attend discipline classes. However, since the TSAB was busy elsewhere, the higher-ups didn’t much care about Overseers. Neither did Hayate.

“I think you’ll enjoy your stay here, Yagami.” She let the use of her surname slide. “We got beds, fresh food and the best entertainment this side of Malovence.”

Malovence was the name of the solar system’s star. Seeing how there wasn’t any other solar systems with stations in the proximity, she found the point moot. “Thanks, Chris. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it, though you have to promise me something.”

“And that is? Wait, let me guess… Sweets! Easy. For you Japanese girls I have this delicious--”

“Don’t lose them,” she said, ignoring him. “Keep an eye on them. Can you do that for me?” She might need them very soon. She didn’t want to have to look for them in case they wandered off. They should know better, but who am I to tell them otherwise right now…

“Aye, ma’am,” he said, throwing a mock salute. “Still, about those sweets—“

“Good. Contact me again once an hour remains.”

She terminated the connection before he could respond. She rose from her chair once the screen vanished and plopped down on her bed. She had no energy to shower, no energy to take her clothes off. Right there and then she fell asleep.

She slept for about four hours, awoken by an alarm. Her mind slowed down by sleep, she found it very odd that her notification sound was so loud. Red, even, flashing from beyond her closed eyelids. She couldn’t remember having hooked it up to the lights. And the noise! It was absurd how loud it was. She had to tell Mariam to—

She shot up, wide awake, mind alert, and realized what the noise was.

“Mariam!” A window appeared by her side as she left her room, heading towards the bridge. Her hair was a mess, but it didn’t register. “What’s going on?”

“Absolution ship detected,” Mariam said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. The last time Hayate had seen her she’d accompanied another crew member to her room. She guessed Mariam’s plans had been interrupted. “Arrived a few seconds ago, moving in fast.”

“Already on it, Yagami. Rallied my guys and your crew should all be on their way.”

“Thanks. Will Iljaren be okay?”

He snorted. “’Course! We have a few surprises once that ship pokes its head close enough.”

‘Ship’. She hadn’t realized it when Mariam said it, but it was singular. She switched the connection over. “Mariam, you said ship. There isn’t a fleet?”

“Does not seem like it, Commander. According to our scans it is alone. No reconnaissance vessel has spotted any more ships, either.”

“Odd. Why would they send one ship… Visuals?”

“In a moment.”

Hayate arrived on the bridge, nodded at Mariam, and sat down in her chair. The large screen ahead of her changed to show the lone Absolution ship still a fair bit outside their weapon range, which meant it wasn’t yet a threat.

“It looks odd,” Hayate said with brows furrowed. At a first glance it appeared to be a normal battlecruiser. On closer inspection it not only had a different color scheme, a bit darker than the others, but was also a little bulkier with more appendages sticking out of its sides. “Any data?”

“None. We have never seen this one before,” Mariam said.

The other warships in her fleet had disengaged from Iljaren Station and were moving away. She double-checked that all of her crew had returned and then did the same. The ship shuddered as the clamps holding it in place were removed and its engine spun up. She joined the other ships as they moved away from the station, in the opposite direction of the lone hostile ship.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Hayate murmured and told the other ships to remain alert. Those that weren’t part of her fleet remained close to Iljaren station, starting to slowly turn towards the Absolution ship. It wouldn’t last long in a battle against that kind of firepower, not even if it could get within its weapon range. What the hell was it doing? The only reason she didn’t order her own fleet to move towards it was because she didn’t want to risk a trap. They had to make it back to Mid-Childa, no matter what,

Hayate turned to stare at her. “Check with the others if they have received the same.”

“They have. I just checked.”

She tapped her fingers on the armrest. “Tell them to patch it through. Let’s see what whoever this is has to say.”

The screen changed from showing the ship to showing a man. Or so she thought. It was a bad representation of a man, since most of his face – the frame only showed his head – was covered in metal, sticking to his skin. His right eye was replaced by a mechanical device she couldn’t make sense of, though it had an orb in the middle. The other eye was pure black and his skin pale.

“Commanders,” he wheezed, a deep voice disfigured by the mask he wore. It scared her. This wasn’t a normal man. “Heretics of the Time Space Administration. It is a pleasure to finally speak to you.”

“Who are you?” She recognized the voice as Tamil. She didn’t interrupt, since she was about to ask the same thing.

“Second Zealot General of the Third Righteous Absolution Fleet, and the Commander of the Tempest, Rashim Jakaar. ”

“I know many things about you and your precious Administration. Of course I would not tell you even if you asked. Rest assured, you will find out soon enough.”

Annoyed, she clicked her tongue. She wouldn’t let him torture her with empty talk. “Let’s cut to the chase; what is your purpose here?”

“To ask of you to yield to the Brightness of the Absolution.”

“Won’t ever happen.”

Jakaar fell silent. “I must insist. Too much blood has been shed. Think of the lives you could save.”

“And that is exactly why we won’t surrender. We won’t fall for your lies and we won’t forget the souls you’ve stolen from us.” She didn’t really have to think. It was obvious and judging from her crew’s facial expressions and murmurs she was abiding to their wishes.

Silence again. “I misjudged you, Commander Yagami. I am honestly surprised. I thought you had comes to your senses, but…” He shook his head, an unnatural movement for someone like him it seemed. “Then I have to ask of you something else.”

“And that is?”

“That you observe and reflect upon your decision. Farewell, Commander.”

The Tempest blinked out of existence as Jakaar disconnected.

“Damnit!” Chris appeared on a new window. “We had him locked and everything. The weasel remained just outside of our range.”

“He might have known about it. Smart bastard,” Hayate said. “Mariam, any sign of the ship?”

“None. It disappeared from all of our sensors.”

Chris shook his head. “Not possible. We should be able to detect where they went. Cloaking devices?”

“Well—“ Hayate started to say and was interrupted by a new alarm. “What now?”

“The ship reappeared,” Mariam said. “It’s… My god…”

“What?”

“It’s between the second fleet and Iljaren.”

“On screen, now!”

On the screen she saw Iljaren Station readying their guns. The second fleet started to turn, weapons hot. In the middle of it all, Jakaar’s ship lay immobile, waiting. He made no moves to attack or defend. A serene shimmer ran across his shield.

“How did he do that?” Hayate said, still amazed. “I’ve never seen an Absolution ship jump that short of a distance.”

Mariam shook her head. “Something is happening with that ship. It does not correspond to any known signatures in our database.”

Hayate looked at the screen. A bright aura had started to pulsate all around the ship, warping the space behind it. Jakaar’s voice could be heard over the comms; “Your leaders has sentenced you to death despite my offerings of salvation. They refused it without a second thought. For that, you must all be punished by the Sun of Empires. Do not blame me, for I am but God’s Messenger.”

Blinding light. Hayate squinted and forced herself to watch through it. Countless beams originated from the Tempest, striking every single ship the second fleet had deployed, piercing their hulls in a fraction of a second. Iljaren Station became engulfed in them as well, cutting it to shreds. Its arms faltered, falling apart, venting atmosphere and bodies. It opened fire in a desperate attempt to stop Jakaar, and failed. Shots went wide, the aura that remained bending them. Ship debris collided with the station, rupturing it further. Malovence became occluded behind the chaos.

Hayate had to look away since her eyes hurt too much. She blinked to recover and when she looked again after a minute all she saw was destruction. The second fleet had been wiped out. All that remained were metallic husks that still glowed. Iljaren Station had broken into two amongst the rubble, both pieces floating away from each other, explosions still going off.

Hayate was speechless. This was a new weapon, another one they would have to analyze. So many lives lost in a single strike, more powerful than any Aeon bomb she’d ever seen. A single word from Jakaar echoed in her head; Reflect.

They fired their beams upon the lone ship, annihilating it within two seconds, a flower of explosive force blooming in space. For a brief moment Jakaar’s voice could be heard. She wasn’t sure if she had imagined it. It had said, “Remember. For the future.”

She didn’t understand him. She tried, but her mind was numb. She held the tears in as the fleet entered the Dimensional Sea, leaving the wreckage of Ijaren and ten warships behind, and set course for Mid-Childa once again.

"Lord Gram! Lord Gram!" A Mazoku that looked like a blue skinned, humanoid creature, though he had what looked like weasel's head in place of a human one appeared in front of the Mazoku General with Corona dangling from his outstretched arm. "Isn't it great?"

"Calm yourself, Sneavel." Gram rolled his eyes as he looked the young girl over. "Well, well, it looks like I have an interesting specimen now, don't I?" He raised an eyebrow at what he was feeling from the girl. "Interesting, normally I don't get this reaction from people just from being in their presence." Some fear was common, but sheer, shark terror? That was new.

Corona couldn't bring herself to answer, she could only remember this monster holding Rio before killing her in cold blood in front of all of them. "R...Rio... You..."

Gram chuckled as he walked around the girl, who found herself dropped to the floor as Sneavel quickly stepped back from her. "Tell me something, girl, how have you enjoyed your time here?" He smirked as she whimpered and tried to curl up on herself. "You were there when I killed that other girl, huh?" Corona could only tremble as Gram slipped up next to her and knelt down. "Tell me something, girl, that Golem you created, what did you use to make it?"

"J...Just what was around me." Corona shivered as the Mazoku ran a finger down her backside.

"Just what was around you?" Gram looked at her with some shock as he thought about that. "To be able to do something like that though..."

"Oh?" Gram smirked at her as he stood up and started to walk away. "Why should I let you go home? What could you possibly offer me?"

Corona's eyes snapped open as a memory came to her. "You said you were looking for two people, right?" She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Provided that you can give me everything I want about those two..." Gram trailed off, but nodded. "Now, where are they?"

"C...Cranagan, on Mid-Childa!" Corona shivered, she hated this, but she wanted to get out of this alive.

Gram frowned in confusion. He had never heard of Mid-Childa before. "So they did escape our world..." But he had done scouting of this staff with minions before and there was very limited life other than this one planet. "And since we still can't access the Dark Staff..."

Many of the Mazoku looked at each other in confusion when Gram suddenly threw his head back and laughed a chilling, heart-stopping laugh. Well, if any of them had hearts that is.

"So much suddenly makes sense. How those two got away from our master, why we could never find them, and this!" He gestured to Corona. "Even those who have the ability to create Golems from raw materials like you do can't do it the way you do."

"I still feel that punch!" A Mazoku in the group yelled at Corona.

"Now, now..." Gram waved that Mazoku down and looked at Corona with an intrigued expression on his face. "Tell me, girl, how about that Golem? Could you make it right now?"

"Lord Gram! You can't possibly..." One of the Mazoku began but was silenced when Gram looked its way.

Corona gulped and closed her eyes and a golden circle formed around her on the floor. Unnoticed to her, Gram raised an eyebrow, both at the color and at what he was feeling from her. 'Interesting.' He snorted as he saw the large black golem stand there motionlessly. "I thought maybe something interesting would happen," he closed his eyes and started to walk away. "Put her in it."

"Yes!"

Corona started scooting away as she saw several Mazoku walk towards her, one of which had a silver-colored breast plate in his hands. She may have not known what it was, but the instant she saw it, all her mind could do was scream at her how dangerous that thing was. "Get... Get away from me! No!" Her arms and legs were quickly grabbed and she was lifted up as the Mazoku with the breastplate got closer. "NO!"

Gram suddenly turned around as he heard the breastplate hit the ground. "...Interesting." The Golem had struck the Mazoku in the side, sending it flying and was turning on the others that held its creator down. "I was wrong, but..." His eyes narrowed and the Golem suddenly shattered into tiny pieces. "I never told you to attack." Corona shook her head and he merely raised an eyebrow. "...Are you telling me that your Golem attacked to protect you without you giving it an order?"

"I was just scared and..." Corona was lifted to a standing position as Gram turned away from her, thinking about it.

"Get her into that thing!" One of the Mazoku grabbed the breastplate and lifted it up. "Don't worry, this is the Zannafar Armor, you'll be safe when you're in it." The armor split apart and one Mazoku put the back against Corona and just before the front was touching her, Gram ordered the Mazoku to stop, causing it to turn to the General in confusion.

"I just realized something..." Gram pulled the breastplate away from Corona and looked at her with glowing eyes. "Yes, I only just realized it, you have an extra organ in you." Corona blinked in confusion as he reached out and tapped her on the upper chest. Her eyes widened and she paled horribly when a glowing ball formed in front of her. "I see... Interesting. An organ that harnesses your magic directly. No need to draw it from a power source and form it into what you want." The Mazoku General suddenly smirked and chuckled as the final pieces fell into place.

"Lord Gram?"

"You can't see it, can you? She's from the Blue staff, Chaotic Blue's staff." The name alone had several of the Mazoku in the room murmuring amongst themselves. "Even if she can't hurt us directly, the fact is, her Golem was made up of common materials. If she had even a little talent in Astral, Black or Holy magic..." Gram trailed off and a gleam came to his eyes. "I wonder..."

Corona felt faint as she saw a bubbling black mass of energy form in his hands. Whatever it was, it felt dark, deep and pure evil.

"What would happen if the raw essence of our Lord Death Fog bonded itself to this organ that processes your magical power?" Gram's smile was cold as the energy shot out with tendrils and wrapped around Corona's Linker Core before merging completely.

The screams of pure pain and suffering was music to all the Mazoku present. Especially as they got louder and more high pitched while black flames started to surround and consume the young girl.

Gram wondered if she could handle it, before mentally shrugging. What did he care if a human lived or died?

(---)

Vivio's eyes suddenly widened as a cold chill ran down her spine. Clutching her chest, she fell to her knees. "No..." She wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason, she felt that something really, really bad had happened. "Corona..."

"Vivio!" Einhart and Arashi yelled at the same time and grabbed her as she trembled. "Vivio, what's..."

"Corona." Nove said, a disgusted look on her face. "Something happened to her." Growling, the redhead turned to a nearby tree and blasted it to kindling. "DAMMIT!"

"The worst part is, we have no idea where to start looking for her." Ixpellia spoke up, looking at the group sadly. "If we just had a clue..."

"...Wow, I know you can get older, but still... How old was she when she had you?" Lyos scratched the back of his head. "And, yeah, I fought alongside her a few times when I was younger."

"I'm adopted." Vivio pointed out to him. "But, wow, I didn't know that. Mama said that she had a lot of things happen in her life."

Lyos nodded. "Well," he looked at Vivio, then at Ixpellia and Pokota, then at Nila before finally settling on Einhart and Arashi, "if we're going, we better get going now. Even at our best speed, it'll take us awhile to get across the continent." He sighed at the questioning looks he was getting. "We're currently near the edge of the countries Lyzeille and Dils, Ruvinagald is closer to Elmekia and Zefielia, so at the very least, we have to travel through either Dils into Kalmaart to get there, or through Ralteague and Saillune, and personally, I prefer to go through Kalmaart."

"Why?" Nove looked at him curiously as he shrugged.

"Less of a hassle, that's all." Either way, it would take them a good length of time to walk that far.

"Ah!" Masha spoke up as he looked at the Blessed Blade. "Before you go, I'll put that sword into a sheath for you." Ixpellia smiled and nodded at him. "And you can keep it. Anyone who can do that with that sword deserves to keep it."

"I would like that." Ixpellia nodded at him.

(---)

Gram raised an eyebrow as the black flames started to die down, as did the girl's screams. He had lost count of how long the girl had been consumed by the darkness, but he had to reason it had been a couple of hours. "So, you did survive." He smirked at the girl who was floating there with a dark aura surrounding her. He found it interesting that her clothes had dissolved, leaving her in just her undergarments.

"Brunzel." Corona's voice whispered as she held out her hand. Her dagger suddenly appeared in her hand and she grinned. "Set UP!"

There was a surge of Black magic from the girl as energy raced along her skin, from her feet upwards, changing her skin's color got paler, her hair turned white while her eyes became red in color. Black shoes covered her feet as did stockings that went up past her knees, a black dress with white frills covered her lower body and a black top with matching white frills covered her torso. The top had a very low-cut back, stopping just centimeters above her waist while poofy black shoulders held the top up. White gloves that went up past her elbows appeared on her hands.

Corona suddenly grinned and a black circle appeared under her feet. "Goliath." She whispered as her Golem came forth once again, however, much to even Gram's surprise, the Golem was covered in spiraling black flames. The Golem knelt down and held out its hand, letting Corona climb onto it. "I do believe our business is done, Mazoku." The grin on Corona's face was one of barely held in maliciousness. "Yes... I feel... So free..." She looked at the breastplate on the ground and snapped her fingers, causing it to fly towards her. "I could use this. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Lord Gram!" One of the Mazoku ran up to the General. "Shouldn't we stop her?"

"Why?" Gram raised an eyebrow at the Mazoku. "I said I'd let her go after she gave me the information I wanted, so, why shouldn't I live up to my end of the deal?"

"Oh yes..." Corona spoke up just before she and Goliath left the room. "You brought me here, didn't you?" She giggled at Sneavel next to Gram. "Yes, well... Goodbye." Black energy surrounded Corona for a moment as she pointed her finger at the Mazoku. The next thing any of the Mazoku in the room knew, a huge blast of pure Black magic tore into the Mazoku, utterly vaporizing the body. "Hee hee hee. Yes... This will do nicely."

Gram merely smirked at the maliciousness he was feeling from the girl. 'Yes, she will do nicely.'

“Second Zealot General of the Third Righteous Absolution Fleet, and the Commander of the Tempest, Rashim Jakaar. ”

Fixed the italics formatting for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthernFallout

“Close to anger. Strange. I thought the Administration only picked the finest to command their ships of war. You are a disgrace, Commander.”

Did you mean "quick to anger"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthernFallout

Jakaar’s voice could be heard over the comms; “Your leaders have sentenced you to death despite my offerings of salvation. They refused it without a second thought. For that, you must all be punished by the Sun of Empires. Do not blame me, for I am but God’s Messenger.”

"Lord Gram! Lord Gram!" A Mazoku that looked like a blue skinned, humanoid creature, though he had what looked like weasel's head in place of a human one appeared in front of the Mazoku General with Corona dangling from his outstretched arm. "Isn't it great?"

"Calm yourself, Sneavel." Gram rolled his eyes as he looked the young girl over. "Well, well, it looks like I have an interesting specimen now, don't I?" He raised an eyebrow at what he was feeling from the girl. "Interesting, normally I don't get this reaction from people just from being in their presence." Some fear was common, but sheer, shark terror? That was new.

Corona couldn't bring herself to answer, she could only remember this monster holding Rio before killing her in cold blood in front of all of them. "R...Rio... You..."

Gram chuckled as he walked around the girl, who found herself dropped to the floor as Sneavel quickly stepped back from her. "Tell me something, girl, how have you enjoyed your time here?" He smirked as she whimpered and tried to curl up on herself. "You were there when I killed that other girl, huh?" Corona could only tremble as Gram slipped up next to her and knelt down. "Tell me something, girl, that Golem you created, what did you use to make it?"

"J...Just what was around me." Corona shivered as the Mazoku ran a finger down her backside.

"Just what was around you?" Gram looked at her with some shock as he thought about that. "To be able to do something like that though..."

"Oh?" Gram smirked at her as he stood up and started to walk away. "Why should I let you go home? What could you possibly offer me?"

Corona's eyes snapped open as a memory came to her. "You said you were looking for two people, right?" She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Provided that you can give me everything I want about those two..." Gram trailed off, but nodded. "Now, where are they?"

"C...Cranagan, on Mid-Childa!" Corona shivered, she hated this, but she wanted to get out of this alive.

Gram frowned in confusion. He had never heard of Mid-Childa before. "So they did escape our world..." But he had done scouting of this staff with minions before and there was very limited life other than this one planet. "And since we still can't access the Dark Staff..."

Many of the Mazoku looked at each other in confusion when Gram suddenly threw his head back and laughed a chilling, heart-stopping laugh. Well, if any of them had hearts that is.

"So much suddenly makes sense. How those two got away from our master, why we could never find them, and this!" He gestured to Corona. "Even those who have the ability to create Golems from raw materials like you do can't do it the way you do."

"I still feel that punch!" A Mazoku in the group yelled at Corona.

"Now, now..." Gram waved that Mazoku down and looked at Corona with an intrigued expression on his face. "Tell me, girl, how about that Golem? Could you make it right now?"

"Lord Gram! You can't possibly..." One of the Mazoku began but was silenced when Gram looked its way.

Corona gulped and closed her eyes and a golden circle formed around her on the floor. Unnoticed to her, Gram raised an eyebrow, both at the color and at what he was feeling from her. 'Interesting.' He snorted as he saw the large black golem stand there motionlessly. "I thought maybe something interesting would happen," he closed his eyes and started to walk away. "Put her in it."

"Yes!"

Corona started scooting away as she saw several Mazoku walk towards her, one of which had a silver-colored breast plate in his hands. She may have not known what it was, but the instant she saw it, all her mind could do was scream at her how dangerous that thing was. "Get... Get away from me! No!" Her arms and legs were quickly grabbed and she was lifted up as the Mazoku with the breastplate got closer. "NO!"

Gram suddenly turned around as he heard the breastplate hit the ground. "...Interesting." The Golem had struck the Mazoku in the side, sending it flying and was turning on the others that held its creator down. "I was wrong, but..." His eyes narrowed and the Golem suddenly shattered into tiny pieces. "I never told you to attack." Corona shook her head and he merely raised an eyebrow. "...Are you telling me that your Golem attacked to protect you without you giving it an order?"

"I was just scared and..." Corona was lifted to a standing position as Gram turned away from her, thinking about it.

"Get her into that thing!" One of the Mazoku grabbed the breastplate and lifted it up. "Don't worry, this is the Zannafar Armor, you'll be safe when you're in it." The armor split apart and one Mazoku put the back against Corona and just before the front was touching her, Gram ordered the Mazoku to stop, causing it to turn to the General in confusion.

"I just realized something..." Gram pulled the breastplate away from Corona and looked at her with glowing eyes. "Yes, I only just realized it, you have an extra organ in you." Corona blinked in confusion as he reached out and tapped her on the upper chest. Her eyes widened and she paled horribly when a glowing ball formed in front of her. "I see... Interesting. An organ that harnesses your magic directly. No need to draw it from a power source and form it into what you want." The Mazoku General suddenly smirked and chuckled as the final pieces fell into place.

"Lord Gram?"

"You can't see it, can you? She's from the Blue staff, Chaotic Blue's staff." The name alone had several of the Mazoku in the room murmuring amongst themselves. "Even if she can't hurt us directly, the fact is, her Golem was made up of common materials. If she had even a little talent in Astral, Black or Holy magic..." Gram trailed off and a gleam came to his eyes. "I wonder..."

Corona felt faint as she saw a bubbling black mass of energy form in his hands. Whatever it was, it felt dark, deep and pure evil.

"What would happen if the raw essence of our Lord Death Fog bonded itself to this organ that processes your magical power?" Gram's smile was cold as the energy shot out with tendrils and wrapped around Corona's Linker Core before merging completely.

The screams of pure pain and suffering was music to all the Mazoku present. Especially as they got louder and more high pitched while black flames started to surround and consume the young girl.

Gram wondered if she could handle it, before mentally shrugging. What did he care if a human lived or died?

(---)

Vivio's eyes suddenly widened as a cold chill ran down her spine. Clutching her chest, she fell to her knees. "No..." She wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason, she felt that something really, really bad had happened. "Corona..."

"Vivio!" Einhart and Arashi yelled at the same time and grabbed her as she trembled. "Vivio, what's..."

"Corona." Nove said, a disgusted look on her face. "Something happened to her." Growling, the redhead turned to a nearby tree and blasted it to kindling. "DAMMIT!"

"The worst part is, we have no idea where to start looking for her." Ixpellia spoke up, looking at the group sadly. "If we just had a clue..."

"...Wow, I know you can get older, but still... How old was she when she had you?" Lyos scratched the back of his head. "And, yeah, I fought alongside her a few times when I was younger."

"I'm adopted." Vivio pointed out to him. "But, wow, I didn't know that. Mama said that she had a lot of things happen in her life."

Lyos nodded. "Well," he looked at Vivio, then at Ixpellia and Pokota, then at Nila before finally settling on Einhart and Arashi, "if we're going, we better get going now. Even at our best speed, it'll take us awhile to get across the continent." He sighed at the questioning looks he was getting. "We're currently near the edge of the countries Lyzeille and Dils, Ruvinagald is closer to Elmekia and Zefielia, so at the very least, we have to travel through either Dils into Kalmaart to get there, or through Ralteague and Saillune, and personally, I prefer to go through Kalmaart."

"Why?" Nove looked at him curiously as he shrugged.

"Less of a hassle, that's all." Either way, it would take them a good length of time to walk that far.

"Ah!" Masha spoke up as he looked at the Blessed Blade. "Before you go, I'll put that sword into a sheath for you." Ixpellia smiled and nodded at him. "And you can keep it. Anyone who can do that with that sword deserves to keep it."

"I would like that." Ixpellia nodded at him.

(---)

Gram raised an eyebrow as the black flames started to die down, as did the girl's screams. He had lost count of how long the girl had been consumed by the darkness, but he had to reason it had been a couple of hours. "So, you did survive." He smirked at the girl who was floating there with a dark aura surrounding her. He found it interesting that her clothes had dissolved, leaving her in just her undergarments.

"Brunzel." Corona's voice whispered as she held out her hand. Her dagger suddenly appeared in her hand and she grinned. "Set UP!"

There was a surge of Black magic from the girl as energy raced along her skin, from her feet upwards, changing her skin's color got paler, her hair turned white while her eyes became red in color. Black shoes covered her feet as did stockings that went up past her knees, a black dress with white frills covered her lower body and a black top with matching white frills covered her torso. The top had a very low-cut back, stopping just centimeters above her waist while poofy black shoulders held the top up. White gloves that went up past her elbows appeared on her hands.

Corona suddenly grinned and a black circle appeared under her feet. "Goliath." She whispered as her Golem came forth once again, however, much to even Gram's surprise, the Golem was covered in spiraling black flames. The Golem knelt down and held out its hand, letting Corona climb onto it. "I do believe our business is done, Mazoku." The grin on Corona's face was one of barely held in maliciousness. "Yes... I feel... So free..." She looked at the breastplate on the ground and snapped her fingers, causing it to fly towards her. "I could use this. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Lord Gram!" One of the Mazoku ran up to the General. "Shouldn't we stop her?"

"Why?" Gram raised an eyebrow at the Mazoku. "I said I'd let her go after she gave me the information I wanted, so, why shouldn't I live up to my end of the deal?"

"Oh yes..." Corona spoke up just before she and Goliath left the room. "You brought me here, didn't you?" She giggled at Sneavel next to Gram. "Yes, well... Goodbye." Black energy surrounded Corona for a moment as she pointed her finger at the Mazoku. The next thing any of the Mazoku in the room knew, a huge blast of pure Black magic tore into the Mazoku, utterly vaporizing the body. "Hee hee hee. Yes... This will do nicely."

Gram merely smirked at the maliciousness he was feeling from the girl. 'Yes, she will do nicely.'

Corona is now happily going to kiss all the guys while she is evil.

Gram: A little something I added to her lips as well, as well as a little fun in itself.

XD

__________________

Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

"Lord Gram! Lord Gram!" A Mazoku that looked like a blue skinned, humanoid creature, though he had what looked like weasel's head in place of a human one appeared in front of the Mazoku General with Corona dangling from his outstretched arm. "Isn't it great?"

"Calm yourself, Sneavel." Gram rolled his eyes as he looked the young girl over. "Well, well, it looks like I have an interesting specimen now, don't I?" He raised an eyebrow at what he was feeling from the girl. "Interesting, normally I don't get this reaction from people just from being in their presence." Some fear was common, but sheer, shark terror? That was new.

Corona couldn't bring herself to answer, she could only remember this monster holding Rio before killing her in cold blood in front of all of them. "R...Rio... You..."

Gram chuckled as he walked around the girl, who found herself dropped to the floor as Sneavel quickly stepped back from her. "Tell me something, girl, how have you enjoyed your time here?" He smirked as she whimpered and tried to curl up on herself. "You were there when I killed that other girl, huh?" Corona could only tremble as Gram slipped up next to her and knelt down. "Tell me something, girl, that Golem you created, what did you use to make it?"

"J...Just what was around me." Corona shivered as the Mazoku ran a finger down her backside.

"Just what was around you?" Gram looked at her with some shock as he thought about that. "To be able to do something like that though..."

"Oh?" Gram smirked at her as he stood up and started to walk away. "Why should I let you go home? What could you possibly offer me?"

Corona's eyes snapped open as a memory came to her. "You said you were looking for two people, right?" She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Provided that you can give me everything I want about those two..." Gram trailed off, but nodded. "Now, where are they?"

"C...Cranagan, on Mid-Childa!" Corona shivered, she hated this, but she wanted to get out of this alive.

Gram frowned in confusion. He had never heard of Mid-Childa before. "So they did escape our world..." But he had done scouting of this staff with minions before and there was very limited life other than this one planet. "And since we still can't access the Dark Staff..."

Many of the Mazoku looked at each other in confusion when Gram suddenly threw his head back and laughed a chilling, heart-stopping laugh. Well, if any of them had hearts that is.

"So much suddenly makes sense. How those two got away from our master, why we could never find them, and this!" He gestured to Corona. "Even those who have the ability to create Golems from raw materials like you do can't do it the way you do."

"I still feel that punch!" A Mazoku in the group yelled at Corona.

"Now, now..." Gram waved that Mazoku down and looked at Corona with an intrigued expression on his face. "Tell me, girl, how about that Golem? Could you make it right now?"

"Lord Gram! You can't possibly..." One of the Mazoku began but was silenced when Gram looked its way.

Corona gulped and closed her eyes and a golden circle formed around her on the floor. Unnoticed to her, Gram raised an eyebrow, both at the color and at what he was feeling from her. 'Interesting.' He snorted as he saw the large black golem stand there motionlessly. "I thought maybe something interesting would happen," he closed his eyes and started to walk away. "Put her in it."

"Yes!"

Corona started scooting away as she saw several Mazoku walk towards her, one of which had a silver-colored breast plate in his hands. She may have not known what it was, but the instant she saw it, all her mind could do was scream at her how dangerous that thing was. "Get... Get away from me! No!" Her arms and legs were quickly grabbed and she was lifted up as the Mazoku with the breastplate got closer. "NO!"

Gram suddenly turned around as he heard the breastplate hit the ground. "...Interesting." The Golem had struck the Mazoku in the side, sending it flying and was turning on the others that held its creator down. "I was wrong, but..." His eyes narrowed and the Golem suddenly shattered into tiny pieces. "I never told you to attack." Corona shook her head and he merely raised an eyebrow. "...Are you telling me that your Golem attacked to protect you without you giving it an order?"

"I was just scared and..." Corona was lifted to a standing position as Gram turned away from her, thinking about it.

"Get her into that thing!" One of the Mazoku grabbed the breastplate and lifted it up. "Don't worry, this is the Zannafar Armor, you'll be safe when you're in it." The armor split apart and one Mazoku put the back against Corona and just before the front was touching her, Gram ordered the Mazoku to stop, causing it to turn to the General in confusion.

"I just realized something..." Gram pulled the breastplate away from Corona and looked at her with glowing eyes. "Yes, I only just realized it, you have an extra organ in you." Corona blinked in confusion as he reached out and tapped her on the upper chest. Her eyes widened and she paled horribly when a glowing ball formed in front of her. "I see... Interesting. An organ that harnesses your magic directly. No need to draw it from a power source and form it into what you want." The Mazoku General suddenly smirked and chuckled as the final pieces fell into place.

"Lord Gram?"

"You can't see it, can you? She's from the Blue staff, Chaotic Blue's staff." The name alone had several of the Mazoku in the room murmuring amongst themselves. "Even if she can't hurt us directly, the fact is, her Golem was made up of common materials. If she had even a little talent in Astral, Black or Holy magic..." Gram trailed off and a gleam came to his eyes. "I wonder..."

Corona felt faint as she saw a bubbling black mass of energy form in his hands. Whatever it was, it felt dark, deep and pure evil.

"What would happen if the raw essence of our Lord Death Fog bonded itself to this organ that processes your magical power?" Gram's smile was cold as the energy shot out with tendrils and wrapped around Corona's Linker Core before merging completely.

The screams of pure pain and suffering was music to all the Mazoku present. Especially as they got louder and more high pitched while black flames started to surround and consume the young girl.

Gram wondered if she could handle it, before mentally shrugging. What did he care if a human lived or died?

(---)

Vivio's eyes suddenly widened as a cold chill ran down her spine. Clutching her chest, she fell to her knees. "No..." She wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason, she felt that something really, really bad had happened. "Corona..."

"Vivio!" Einhart and Arashi yelled at the same time and grabbed her as she trembled. "Vivio, what's..."

"Corona." Nove said, a disgusted look on her face. "Something happened to her." Growling, the redhead turned to a nearby tree and blasted it to kindling. "DAMMIT!"

"The worst part is, we have no idea where to start looking for her." Ixpellia spoke up, looking at the group sadly. "If we just had a clue..."

"...Wow, I know you can get older, but still... How old was she when she had you?" Lyos scratched the back of his head. "And, yeah, I fought alongside her a few times when I was younger."

"I'm adopted." Vivio pointed out to him. "But, wow, I didn't know that. Mama said that she had a lot of things happen in her life."

Lyos nodded. "Well," he looked at Vivio, then at Ixpellia and Pokota, then at Nila before finally settling on Einhart and Arashi, "if we're going, we better get going now. Even at our best speed, it'll take us awhile to get across the continent." He sighed at the questioning looks he was getting. "We're currently near the edge of the countries Lyzeille and Dils, Ruvinagald is closer to Elmekia and Zefielia, so at the very least, we have to travel through either Dils into Kalmaart to get there, or through Ralteague and Saillune, and personally, I prefer to go through Kalmaart."

"Why?" Nove looked at him curiously as he shrugged.

"Less of a hassle, that's all." Either way, it would take them a good length of time to walk that far.

"Ah!" Masha spoke up as he looked at the Blessed Blade. "Before you go, I'll put that sword into a sheath for you." Ixpellia smiled and nodded at him. "And you can keep it. Anyone who can do that with that sword deserves to keep it."

"I would like that." Ixpellia nodded at him.

(---)

Gram raised an eyebrow as the black flames started to die down, as did the girl's screams. He had lost count of how long the girl had been consumed by the darkness, but he had to reason it had been a couple of hours. "So, you did survive." He smirked at the girl who was floating there with a dark aura surrounding her. He found it interesting that her clothes had dissolved, leaving her in just her undergarments.

"Brunzel." Corona's voice whispered as she held out her hand. Her dagger suddenly appeared in her hand and she grinned. "Set UP!"

There was a surge of Black magic from the girl as energy raced along her skin, from her feet upwards, changing her skin's color got paler, her hair turned white while her eyes became red in color. Black shoes covered her feet as did stockings that went up past her knees, a black dress with white frills covered her lower body and a black top with matching white frills covered her torso. The top had a very low-cut back, stopping just centimeters above her waist while poofy black shoulders held the top up. White gloves that went up past her elbows appeared on her hands.

Corona suddenly grinned and a black circle appeared under her feet. "Goliath." She whispered as her Golem came forth once again, however, much to even Gram's surprise, the Golem was covered in spiraling black flames. The Golem knelt down and held out its hand, letting Corona climb onto it. "I do believe our business is done, Mazoku." The grin on Corona's face was one of barely held in maliciousness. "Yes... I feel... So free..." She looked at the breastplate on the ground and snapped her fingers, causing it to fly towards her. "I could use this. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Lord Gram!" One of the Mazoku ran up to the General. "Shouldn't we stop her?"

"Why?" Gram raised an eyebrow at the Mazoku. "I said I'd let her go after she gave me the information I wanted, so, why shouldn't I live up to my end of the deal?"

"Oh yes..." Corona spoke up just before she and Goliath left the room. "You brought me here, didn't you?" She giggled at Sneavel next to Gram. "Yes, well... Goodbye." Black energy surrounded Corona for a moment as she pointed her finger at the Mazoku. The next thing any of the Mazoku in the room knew, a huge blast of pure Black magic tore into the Mazoku, utterly vaporizing the body. "Hee hee hee. Yes... This will do nicely."

Gram merely smirked at the maliciousness he was feeling from the girl. 'Yes, she will do nicely.'

Spoiler for MST3K review:

*Insert Darth Vader's theme*

Me: Uh-oh the cat's out of the bag and someone have fallen off the steep end.

Val: *deadpan expression* Great... JUST Great.

Odin: Seriously... That's one way of going into the dark side. *looks at the BTF cast.* Does anyone is open for training for being a Dark Knight class here?

Signum: Dark Knight Class?

Odin: A Knight who harness and utilize the power of darkness. The polar opposite of the Paladin Class in terms of skill and element.

The droids became scrap metal in an instant. Their armor melted and innards exploded as the beam pierced the entire firing squad. The remaining hostiles turned towards Nanoha's position and opened fire. Energy shots glanced off the building while Yuuno summoned a powerful barrier, protecting them on the inside.

"Unforgiving," Nanoha said, relaying to the others while she remained crouched down behind cover, "full on assault at my position. Be careful, Fate is among them. Kill them all."

She stood up once the fire lulled down a little and unleashed another Buster, taking down a few other droids. Those who survived regrouped and took defensive positions amongst the rubble while the humanoid dragged Fate away towards another building.

"Don't let him escape!" Nanoha roared to no one in particular. He wouldn't get away. Not this time. They'd save Fate.

Zafira was the first to arrive. He struck down in the middle of a small squad, covering them in dust, and started tearing them to pieces with his bare hands. Signum and Vita arrived a moment later, striking down ahead of the humanoid, blocking his path. Another squad of droids stood between them, but Vita crashed into them, using her armor as a blockade. Their fire went wide as they tried to hit her before she reached them. Signum supported her with ranged spells while Vivio appeared behind a building, punching through a couple of droids still standing on watch. Her fist, powered by magic, ruptured the droids' chests, debris flying everywhere.

Dust and the loud noise of battle filled the small playground. It was starting to get hard to see anything from Nanoha's position. "I'll move down there, Yuuno. Stay here and provide support."

"Roger."

She jumped down from the apartment and onto the playground, firing off an Accel Shooter as she did so. The beams tracked the nearest targets and destroyed them in an instant, resuming the hunt for more targets while Nanoha walked towards the humanoid. Her armor glowed as it glanced off weak arms fire from somewhere to her left, but she kept her eyes focused on the humanoid. It was all that was in her sight, with a killing intent so strong she surprised herself. She, Fate and the humanoid became closed off from the fighting going on around them, sounds of battle drowning in her own heartbeat.

"Captain Takamachi," the humanoid said. "I have been expecting you."

"Expecting me?" She felt enraged at his lax attitude. They were in the middle of a battle and he treated it as an executive meeting. "And how do you know my name? Who are you?"

"So many questions. I am Zealot General Manez Zelaar, and it is none of your concern how I get my information." He looked at Fate, rustling her shoulder. She let her head dangle, looking downward. "You have come for her, yes? A friend of yours or... maybe something more..."

"Let her go."

"You have to make me do that, but judging from the strength of your fellow mages I have had the pleasure of defeating in battle so far, I am not that worried." A shimmer appeared around his body, hovering close to his armor. "Still, I am known amongst my peers for having a very curious mind so I guess I should give you a chance. Simply to see how you stand up against me."

Nanoha sneered. "You might be surprised."

"Oh? You have an attitude the others did not. Come, then. Fight me to the death."

He pushed Fate to the side, snaring her in some kind of magical bindings that had an odd resemblance to spells in Nanoha's own arsenal. She didn't let her mind waver too much on it, though, and attacked immediately. She went in close, using close range attacks to gauge his defenses. Zelaar responded by taking the attack head-on with a smile. His shield flickered for a moment, but didn't break.

Nanoha, realizing he probably planned to attack her if she continued, disengaged and leapt backwards, throwing several beams at him as she did so. Each beam seemed to bend around him, missing and exploding behind him. His shield didn't even waver.

"My turn," he murmured, smiling. He rose one arm, palm facing towards Nanoha, and unleashed a dozen smaller beams originating from his hand. Each beam spiraled out of control by their own, taking a separate different path before homing in on Nanoha. She defended with a simple barrier at first, blocking half of them. Her barrier suffered some damage, but didn't break. The remaining ones broke off their attack and tried to go around her, striking her in the back.

With a leap upward, she threw her body upside down and avoided their initial swoop. Using the momentum, she flew into the sky and shot the remaining beams down with Accel Shooter. Weak, but fast attack, she thought, looking down at Zelaar. He fights a little like a mage. If he can fly--

Her answer came when Zelaar shot up and aimed a fist towards her midsection. She flared her barrier a fraction of a second before he hit, but the sheer force behind his punch broke through, shattering the barrier, and touched her armor. It threw her further upward, dazing her for a moment. She had trouble breathing, her heart racing as it tried to catch up. Sensing something approaching, she flew to the side and avoided another punch. Both of them came to a standstill in the air, observing each other. Zelaar still smiled.

What is with this guy, she thought focused. Working in an adrenaline-fused high, her brain sped up and went through possible moves and tactics that stood a chance of beating him. The one viable option she knew so far was to use everything she had against him.

[Cross Buster.]

[Accel Shooter.]

[Short Buster.]

Beams and barriers. They traded blow for blow, beam for beam, swooping past each other high above the playground where the fighting had almost stopped. She wasn't aware of it, focused entirely on Zelaar, her eyes tracking him no matter where he was. Her barriers started to weaken more and more and she started to try and dodge with speed instead. His own beams started to become slower and more predictable. Both of them were starting to tire out, lacking the energy to go full out. A show of strength had become one of endurance, and the outcome was still undecided.

Nevertheless, Nanoha still had the disadvantage. She had noticed something in the fight and that was that Zelaar hadn't been tired before starting it. Half a night's sleep hadn't been enough for Nanoha to replenish all of her mana and the little supplies she had left dwindled for each attack. Her Purge Suit had long since stopped its infusion, having run out several minutes ago. It was a losing battle unless she could put an end to it now.

It's quiet below me, she thought, throwing a glance downwards. She saw a few scuffles here and there, but nothing major. Maybe...

"Vivio! A little help, please," she said into her comms.

Zelaar grinned. "Calling in reinforcements? I was right about you! Dishonorable heretic!"

"There is no honor in this war..." Nanoha muttered just as Vivio shot up from below and delivered a blow to Zelaar's back. He grunted, swore, and threw a few beams her way, but they didn't have the power to catch her. Vivio orbited him, waiting for another chance to strike and at the same time drawing his attention for a second.

Which meant the window of opportunity presented itself. Raising Heart extended, adding on modules on Nanoha's command. The magical residue left behind, plentiful enough to make up for her own low mana levels, started to drift towards her, glowing. The air itself warped a little.

Flash Impact.

It would be a weak one regardless since she couldn't charge it up to its full potential, but it had to be enough. The thrusters on her ankles activated, shooting her forward with Raising Heart pointed towards Zelaar. He started to turn around, anticipating it. His shield shimmered for an instant. He grinned.

"Starlight Breaker!"

His shield broke as Raising Heart pierced through it, continuing to his armor, melting that as well, before rupturing his stomach and burrowing through him like a lance. His eyes widened in shock before the spell activated while the device was stuck inside him and a white light swallowed him with a roar. Nanoha didn't look away. She forced herself to watch as the energy blasted out from his back, disintegrating his insides and melting his flesh.

Then it was over, the beam fading. What remained of Zelaar slid off Raising Heart and plummeted to the ground where his body landed with a sickening splosh on the broken swings. His upper body pierced itself upon the metal bars, while his lower body dangled in pieces of flesh just above the ground. Blood flooded from the corpse, forming a pool. His black eyes remained open, his mouth frozen in a wide grin as the mask had been ripped off.

Nanoha landed in the middle of the playground, forcing herself to stand upright. Her legs shook, muscles screaming, but her head remained clear. She didn't look at the remains of Zelaar and instead approached Fate who lay on the ground. The bindings had disappeared when Zelaar had died and she helped her to her feet, pulling her into a tight embrace. They stood there for a while, Nanoha feeling Fate's warmth and heartbeat. The others gathered around them, having finished off the remaining drones. None of them had sustained any visible injuries.

After a few minutes of silence had passed, Nanoha withdrew a little and looked Fate over. Her chaotic hair had been burnt in some place, but that was nothing compared to the damage to her face. This close the scorch marks looked worse and she could see that some of her teeth had been extracted, leaving swollen gums behind. Blood had at some point formed at the corner of her mouth, trailed down her cheek and left a red trail mark. She would need advanced medical attention if she stood a chance of recovering entirely from her injuries, and that didn't include the damage Nanoha couldn't see.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Nanoha said with the softest voice she could manage. She didn't want to ask the next question lingering on her tongue, but she knew she had to. The question had been waiting ever since she'd first seen Fate with Zelaar. "Where's Caro and Erio? Are they somewhere around here, in another camp?"

Fate disengaged from the hug and stared into Nanoha's eyes. Her lower lip started to quiver as she said, "Dead." She fell to her knees, grabbing onto Nanoha's armor. Tears dripped down on the ground, darkening it. "They are dead because of me. Because of that woman. Dead. Gone."

Nanoha stood still in silence, looking down on her friend. She was too shocked to find the right words. She tried to process it while Zafira stepped forward and knelt beside Fate, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Fate. What woman?"

She shook her head, lost. "Lord Veena. I have to kill her. Nanoha!" She stood up again, grasping Nanoha's shoulders. "We have to kill her. She was here earlier, I'm sure she left with a shuttle or something. We can track her, can't we? Pursue her, blow her up. Tell Hayate to pursue. Capture her and let me take care of her. Please, do it for me."

Her eyes were bloodshot and wide. She didn't notice herself crying as she smiled, walking on the brink of insanity. The scorch marks on her face seemed to pulsate.

Nanoha hugged her, hard. Fate squirmed, rambling on, trying to go somewhere. Her words became slurred as she started crying harder, eventually turning into a long wail. Nanoha wouldn't let go. She felt more numb than ever, unable to say or do anything else.

The wail lessened little by little until Fate clung with her arms around Nanoha's waist, quietly sobbing. Their comms choose that moment to crackle to life. "Nanoha, this is Hayate. Take cover somewhere and wait for extraction. You have a large force moving in on your position. We would use the teleporter, but it's out of commission right now."

"Roger that," Nanoha said, patting Fate on the back. She tried to mask her emotions, pushing them down into herself, but some of it leaked through in her voice. "I knew you would come back, Hayate."

"As if you'd ever doubt me."

Nanoha chuckled and the transmission ended.

"Let's move into that building," Signum said and pointed at a sturdy-looking structure nearby. Nanoha nodded and they moved into it, carefully supporting Fate as she walked. Once inside they combined their magic barriers and shields to create a bubble around them in case the building would suffer damage, though she wasn't sure from what. Fate had gone awfully quiet, staring off into space with empty eyes. Nanoha wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder, partly to comfort her and partly to make sure for herself that Fate was actually by her side.

A few moments later they could see a bright light in the distance, blocked by the rest of the city. It seemed to move closer until it suddenly faded. After a few seconds a shockwave so powerful screamed past them, shaking the building so hard it cracked at the walls, dust falling to the floor. Nanoha almost expected it to crumble as the foundation groaned. Metal broke somewhere in the distance, followed by a loud crash.

Their building didn't collapse. The shaking stopped as soon as it had begun and she exhaled, still holding Fate's shoulder. Relief washed over her and she couldn't help but smile. "We can leave now," she said, looking at the others and then at Fate. Relieved and battered faces all around her, except for Teana."We can rest on the Vengala for a while."

"Not all of us are," Teana said, looking into the sky through a window. She massaged the wound on her leg. "Subaru wasn't here. She was supposed to be with Fate. Where the hell is she..."

*

Earlier, in the Dimensional Sea.

Calm. She felt such a strong calmness it scared her as the Vengala and the rest of her fleet traversed the Dimensional Sea in silence. Hayate sat in her command chair, idly observing the crew and the screens surrounding her. Information, some of it irrelevant intel, scrolled past in a steady stream. Everyone did their jobs without paying attention to anything else.

Waiting. Holding their breaths for what would come next.

"Arriving within the hour, Commander," Mariam said. "The fleet is reporting all systems optimal."

Hayate nodded, swapping windows on her screen. Diagnostics of the ship, focusing on the bow, came up. Pulsating lines illustrated the Arc-en-Ciel weapon system links, indicating its operational status. They were all green and healthy; the last piece in her plan had been put into place.

"Are they in position?" she asked.

"Yes. According to their calculations they will drop out of the Sea at their pre-designated locations and wait for your orders, if all conditions are optimal."

"And are they?"

"For the moment, yes." She paused. "There is no telling once we drop, though."

Hayate sighed, crossing her arms. "Time will tell. I'm out of ideas at this point. This is the only way to fight them right now with our numbers."

"I agree, Commander," Mariam said. "It is just that I am voicing my worries. It is a good plan, after all."

"I understand that... And I hope it's good enough."

Mariam's console pinged and she brought it up on Hayate's screen as she narrated, "Our scouting vessels report that the Absolution fleet is holding their position where we last saw them. They are having trouble navigating through the debris, though."

"The Messiah?"

"Alive, but damaged. It seems it is stationary for the time being."

"Damnit." Hayate sighed. "I hoped it would have moved on or something. It might be a problem."

Half an hour passed as the fleet made their way back to Mid-Childa. When the time drew near, Hayate gave them their orders and the ships dispersed in the Sea. She remained alone at her position, as planned.

"Hotdrop attack commencing in ten," Mariam said.

Hayate braced herself. Her heart started to beat faster as adrenaline rushed in her veins. She tried to repress the urge to call it a historic moment -- a moment of triumph even -- when the Navy beat back the invaders in a decisive battle. There wouldn't be any more running after this. It would change the war.

At least she hoped as much, at the same time realizing it was a fruitless wish doomed to fail.

"Dropping... now!"

The ship shuddered and blackness replaced the dark blue shimmer of the Sea, stars glittering in the background. A planet came into view below them, along with the Absolution fleet from earlier. Twelve battlecruisers orbited the Messiah in slow progression. Straight ahead of her, behind the hostiles, Cranagan's Glory dropped down, followed by the remaining ships at two other locations, forming a square formation around the Absolution fleet. They were boxed in.

By now, five seconds had passed since they had left the safety of the Sea. The Absolution fleet would already be locking them up.

"Prepare to fire," Hayate said. "Link up with the other ships, amplify."

Lines of light appeared between the four ships, linking them with one another. Hayate could feel the weapon charging up inside her own ship, a constant hum reverberating throughout the hull. She watched, anxiety rising, as the Absolution fleet started to split up, picking a target each. They were still outside their own weapon range, but that wouldn't matter in a few minutes.

"Progress?" she asked.

"Ready to fire in ten," Mariam said.

The rest of the fleet reported they were ready as well and they started to charge up their cannons. The lines between them started glowing brighter, growing in size, while the Absolution fleet fired in a desperate attempt to break the links. Beam fire reflected off Cranagan's Glory's shield, dispersing into space. The Vengala suffered its own beating, coming under attack from two of the hostile ships. For a brief moment space was cluttered with white lines of light, but none of it did any substantional damage.

"The Messiah is moving, Commander! It's aligning somewhere."

"Shit, can we fire yet?"

"No. The Miademes is reporting electrical complications. It will take a few seconds for them to fix it."

The behemoth aligned out as Hayate watched and its engines flared for an instant. Its speed picked up by a fair margin and left its brethren behind, smashing into debris and friendly ships with no heed for their safety. It's Commander knew what Hayate was planning and he didn't plan to stick around.

"We can fire now!" Mariam said, looking up from her console. All screens agreed with her."

"Do it," Hayate said, turning the key in her console to unlock all safety locks. "Fire before that fucker can get away!"

Space warped as the Ciel activated. The battlecruisers caught within the radius seemed to bend into peculiar shapes, a product of the visual illusion as the Arc-en-Ciel effect increased. Hayate knew that within the sphere of influence, burning with bright light, chaotic forces were wrecking havoc with the ships' hull. The Messiah, though, wasn't part of them. It disappeared into space, blinking out of existence.

"Fuck!"

Ships exploded in the sphere where time-space became disrupted. Debris appeared and then disappeared as the magical forces disintegrated any material within. Flowers of explosive energy bloomed in space.

Then it stopped as quickly as it had begun, the Vengala returning to its ambient hum. It all lasted for five seconds.

"The Absolution fleet has been destroyed, Commander," Mariam said. "Establish orbit around Mid-Childa?"

"Yes." She eyed the screen showing the planet. The map showing Cranagan looked odd. "What's happening down on the surface, around Cranagan?"

"A large force is moving in. The Unforgiving are unaware of it as far as I can tell."

Hayate opened a comms channel, something she hadn't done since arriving at the planet again, and hailed her team. "Nanoha, this is Hayate. Take cover somewhere and wait for extraction. You have a large force moving in on your position. We would use the teleporter, but it's out of commission right now."

"Roger that." It came through clean. There wasn't any interference anymore. She sounded exhausted and Hayate thought she sensed some emptiness in her voice. "I knew you would come back, Hayate."

"As if you'd ever doubt me."

"Commander," Mariam said. "Orders?"

"Measure the distance between the hostiles and Cranagan. How close are they?"

"A few kilometers, moving fast.

"Then we should... Yeah." She grinned as she stood up, hands on her hips. "Prepare for Orbital Bombardment. Vengala only. Tell the rest of the fleet to stand-by."

"Will do, Commander."

She waited while the ship powered up again. They had enough energy for one smaller Arc-en-Ciel blast and with the rest of the fleet surrounding them they weren't in any danger if Absolution ships would appear. The only worry lay in the fact that the radius might be too big and take out a part of Cranagan in the process. They had to be careful and accurate in their calculations. Nevertheless, she doubted there would be any problems.

"Preparations complete. Area of effect established. All systems optimal. Hostile force has been locked in. Commander, on your call."

"Fire."

The ship shuddered and one white beam swooped down towards the planet, forming a white orb as it reached the ground. Hayate looked at the screen as it happened, sighing in relief as the blast radius was just outside Cranagan's borders. The results came back a moment later.

"Good. Send down a shuttle and extract them." She sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. The tension in her body loosened, letting her relax. "Tell the Unforgiving that they can rest for a while. We might just have made the Absolution a bit scared..."

Spoiler for What actually happened to Fate while in captivity? The answe won't be found in the main story, but it can be found within...:

"Lord Veena. It's an honor to have you visit us here at our outpost. It's been a long time since someone from the Highers came back."

"The pleasure is mine, Zealot General, but I am here on business. Where are the prisoners?"

"In the back. The woman took down a whole battalion before we could capture her."

"What about the boy and the girl?"

"Weaker, but still fought on like crazy. That dragon demon of hers hurt us a lot... Though it couldn't handle that much firepower. Heh. If you'd try and sell its scales now, you would barely afford dinner."

"Now that leaves us, Fate. And these children. We are both women, you and I. We understand the connection between mothers and children, do we not?"

"... You..."

"Yes, I do have children. Two sons. Both are Zealot Generals, but not on this planet. They are waiting for my orders. Again, Harlaown, give me the positions and any plans you may know."

"You won't... break me."

"Why do you think I am asking. Out of courtesy? No. I need this information. The Zealot General? The one who tortured you? Do not tell him I said this, but he has gone soft in later days. You may be bleeding, you may be hurting, but you are not giving me what I want. Can you not understand the implications this might have between us?

"...Keeping silent again? I see. Then... Erio! Do you know this information I am asking for?"

"No. And I wouldn't tell you."

"Leave him alone..."

"So loyal! I like that in a man, with one condition."

"Condition?"

"That the man realizes just how stupid it is to be loyal in a situation such as this. Which you do not."

"Leave him alone!"

"Will you talk if I do, Harlaown?"

"... Anything else. Ask me something else."

"Access codes. Warship authorization. Work with me, Harlaown."

"Don't tell her anything, Fate!"

"We can resist her!"

"Erio, Caro, you should keep quiet. Your mother and I have are having a conversation between adults."

"Please stop it..."

"I cannot, Caro. Harlaown, what will it be? Silence? Well then..."

"Ah..."

"I broke two of your fingers. You did not scream or wail. Impressive. I can respect self-control."

"And now I have ripped out his tongue so he will learn not to interrupt me again. All this blood is an inconvenience, though. My armor is red. I need to clean it now."

"Erio... Veena, you bastard..."

"Please talk, Harlaown. Look, everything will end if you do. This boy is already doomed, however. It is because of you he is dying, because of loyalty yet again. Loyalty to the Administration, loyalty to the cause, loyalty to... I do not know. Someone. Somewhere."

"Please don't let him die... Please save--"

"That made you quiet, did it not? Snapping his neck like that? The sound is quite horrible. He is so quiet now. Tranquil. No pain. What do you think, Caro?"

"...Ah... no... Erio, why..."

"Hmm? Do you want your mother to kill you too? Might that actually be what you want? You look at her with those wide eyes of yours, tears streaming down your cheeks. Almost as if you want her to save you from this madness. Except she will not, because her loyalty means much more than you do. You are merely a piece in her game. In the Administration's game. To imagine they would use child soldiers, well, this is the result of that. Maybe they will think twice the next time they do it. Would you not agree, Harlaown?"

"But I think she should listen! I am applying logic here. To protect your loyalty towards the Administration, you must keep quiet. This child is merely a vessel for your success of keeping that loyalty. She is the epitome of some kind of redemption, is she not? A personal totem, if you would, something to remind you of... Well, I would guess something you yourself did not have and that you are now able to give. And it is all... lies! All of it. Yet you call us the beasts. Ironic, is it not?"

"None of that... is true..."

"Maybe not. Maybe it is. It does not matter."

"What are you--"

"Gaaah!"

"Please stop!"

"I have only broken one arm so far. Look, you can see the bone piercing the skin. There is one more to go, not counting her legs, fingers, toes... You know, to some, this might be the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over and over again, expecting different results. Do you want to spiral down into madness, Harlaown? To see what lies beyond the veil of--"

"Alright!... Alright. I'll give you what you want, just please don't hurt her anymore, please."

"Good. Excellent. That means I can end her misery."

"... What?"

"No... No."

"You were too late, Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown. You see, I believe that the true face of a person appears when they are driven to vengeance fueled by hatred. And, what better hatred is there than towards the person who slaughtered your children."

"Don't do it. I swear, if you do--"

"You will come and hunt me down for the rest of your life. It will become your sole purpose for existing and I will be there to witness your real soul. Come after me and kill me. Drive that device of yours through my heart. End my life before I succumb entirely to insanity because I can feel it creeping up on me. If it takes over me, I might forget about you and I would not be able to enjoy the moment of revelations."

"... You..."

"Your hatred is already growing, I can see it. I know you better than you know yourself. The Absolution has a history with you, Administration mage. Soon your history and my history will clash and join each other. Our fates, Fate, will become intertwined. Now..."

"Put her down! What are you doing to her!?"

" You would be surprised how fragile the body is when you cannot use your magic. Especially when you are surrounded by my own magic. Do you know what it is called, Harlaown? This spell of mine, rising your daughter to the skies in a golden bubble?"

"I don't..."

"I call it the Extractor of God. Do you know why I call it that? No? I will show you."

"... Ah. No. Caro! No! Please, god, no!"

"Can you see it, Enforcer? Can you see God's extraction? It is raining from the skies, streaming down your body, coloring your blonde hair red. It feels good, does it not? Knowing that now you are bathing in the glory that is God. Your daughter has become one with God. Your son, not so much. And it is all your fault. You need to remember that, Enforcer. Remember what I have done. Remember it was your fault. Because of you, and the Administration, your children died a horrible death."

"You son of a... I will never... forget what you've done."

"Are you deaf, Fate? That is what I have told you over and over and... Insanity. It is claiming me. You can see it is already happening. If it is any consolation I am actually a little afraid."

"Are you leaving me here? Where... are you going?"

"Ask me, Fate. Ask me why I am afraid."

"... Why... are you afraid?"

"Because if insanity claims me, what I have done here today has been a taste of what is to come. That which follows will only be described as... the work of a real monster. Goodbye, Enforcer Fate T Harlaown. I have a feeling we will meet sooner than you think."

After this, Act I ends, Act II begins. Perspective becomes only Nanoha and we finally go space walkin'. And turn everything up to 11.